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PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA | Every tournament day before Max Homa goes out to compete, his wife, Lacey, gives him a bit of advice.
Sometimes it’s wise.
Sometimes it’s funny.
Many times, it’s out of left field and sometimes “it’s really dumb,” her husband said.
On Sunday morning before the final round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, a place the homegrown Homa loves like few others, he received an itemized list of thoughts from his bride.
One stayed with him – “Forgive quickly.”
When Homa missed a 40-inch putt on the 72nd green that would have finished off his second career PGA Tour victory, giving Tony Finau new life after thinking he’d been denied again, the 30-year-old thought of that advice once the blood returned to his head.
“I played a pretty perfect round of golf, very flawless so what was there to be too mad about?” Homa said after beating Finau with a par on the second extra hole that resulted. “I was about to be in a playoff in a place where I first fell in love with golf.”
There aren’t many better chances to win than standing over a 3½-footer on the last hole to get it done. But despite how easy tournament host Tiger Woods used to make it look, winning tournaments is hard.
Homa could have been gutted when he missed the putt to win on the 72nd hole, within view of Woods who was watching from the hillside above the 18th green. But he wasn’t.
Finau shot 64 on Sunday – two better than any other final-round score – but couldn’t birdie the first playoff hole to win when he had the chance, thereby extending his almost cruel career narrative of near misses.
“I’m disappointed,” Finau said … again.
He’s finished second eight times – including his past two PGA Tour starts – since winning his only tournament five years ago in Puerto Rico while accumulating 37 top-10 finishes in that time.
Sam Burns led after each of the first three rounds and was still three clear of the field when he reached the back nine on Sunday chasing his first PGA Tour victory. Then his lead disappeared in a fog of closing bogeys.
“Just didn’t play well enough,” Burns said succinctly, the burn still fresh.
Conventional wisdom says Burns will be better the next time he is in that position. But, as Finau knows, the game doesn’t come with guarantees.
The game is as strange as it is difficult.
Homa could have been gutted when he missed the putt to win on the 72nd hole, within view of Woods who was watching from the hillside above the 18th green. But he wasn’t. He was a little embarrassed and admitted nerves got the best of him there.
Knowing he still could win the playoff, Homa made a quick call to his wife.
“I said, ‘I think I choked a little bit,’ and she laughed,” Homa said.
He traded texts with some buddies, one of whom had asked if anyone had ever made an ace on the short par-4 10th where the playoff would begin. It was all enough to divert Homa’s focus from what had just happened to what could happen.
When Homa pulled his tee shot on the first playoff hole up against a tree with Finau just off the green, he looked finished. Instead, he hooded a 50-degree wedge and improvised a way to save par.
“I hit a good tee ball, I pulled it probably 5 yards left of where Tony was, which is kind of where you wanted to hit it,” Homa said. “Yeah, what are you going to be mad about when you make a good swing when you’re nervous. Obviously had a weird looking shot but I had a shot, which is cool.”
When Finau missed a 7-footer to win – that’s how close he is to flipping the discussion about his career – Homa was able to win with a routine par on the second extra hole after Finau bunkered his tee shot on the par-3 14th.
For all his good work, it was out of Finau’s hands as he stood near Woods on the hill watching Homa putt to win the tournament.
“I knew the chance of him missing were going to be really low, but it wasn't a gimme. There was a small chance,” Finau said.
Finau got that chance but, even after shooting 64, it wasn’t enough and the questions about when he will win started again. That’s Finau’s peculiar burden.
“It's bittersweet to be in this position again, but I mean, I never get tired of playing good golf and that’s what I tell myself every week,” Finau said.
“It’s like sports is about winning, I’ve said that many times. I grew up trying to win every tournament I play, every tournament I play, nothing’s changed.”
Like so many others, Homa grew up idolizing Woods. To find himself accepting the Genesis Invitational trophy from him capped Homa’s beautiful Sunday.
What did Woods say to him?
“He told me, ‘Way to hang tough,’ after I missed that putt on 18,” Homa said. “I told him I was embarrassed I missed a shorty in front of the most clutch athlete ever. But that was a surreal moment.”
Homa understood it could have been Finau standing there instead but it wasn’t. Homa played the last 26 holes without a bogey and given a second chance to win, he seized it.
“That’s golf,” Homa said. “Golf’s hard.”
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