NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
Five years ago, Max Homa totaled a measly three FedEx Cup points over the course of 17 PGA Tour starts. Four years ago, the former NCAA champion was scuffling outside the top 1,000 in the world ranking while battling his way through the Korn Ferry Tour.
Those dark days are long behind him. Homa has won four times since 2019 and recently ascended to No. 23 in the world, the best ranking of his career. The affable Californian has eight top-20 finishes and just one missed cut in 2022, evolving into a likely U.S. Presidents Cup team pick and one of the most popular players in the game.
A stat breakdown of Homa shows consistent improvement across the board. His strokes gained total ranking has progressed from No. 106 in 2018-19 to 80th, 73rd and currently 12th in successive seasons. The reason for that rise is not due to one skill; outside of his lackluster chipping and pitching, Homa ranks inside the top 30 for all major strokes gained categories.
For all of his talent and determination, Homa also can attribute his improvement to some critical equipment tweaks. A full Titleist staffer, Homa benefited from an early-season trip to the Titleist Performance Institute where he discovered that his TSi3 driver needed some adjustments. He went from a 9-degree head to a 10-degree head while also switching from an Aldila Rogue Black 130 MSI 60X shaft to a Fujikura Ventus Black 6X shaft. Homa also changed the hosel setting, lowering the loft by three-quarters of a degree – it all led to a higher launch, less spin and greater ball speed. That has equated to an extra 5 yards off the tee (305-yard average this season vs. 300 yards last season).
Another change came with his golf ball. Homa had been sticking with the 2019 ProV1 but was persuaded to try the 2021 version in part because that is the ball used at driving ranges on the PGA Tour. Despite being reluctant to change balls, Homa found that the two balls were pretty similar and ultimately decided to take the plunge.
Then there was a slight alteration with his irons. Homa traditionally has played muscleback blades that are relatively unforgiving, but he found going to the cavity-back T100s 4-iron and T100 5-iron offered a higher launch and more forgiveness. He was concerned that his yardage gaps would be discombobulated, but the irons go almost the exact same distance as the 620MBs, which is what he has continued to play for the rest of his irons.
Lastly, Homa started this calendar year with new Vokey SM9 wedges that replaced his SM8 wedges, the reasoning being that the SM9s were easier to flight when playing into the wind. He had four SM9 wedges in the bag for his victory at the Wells Fargo Championship.
One interesting part about Homa’s wedges is that they are not stamped with the degree number. Instead, his 60-degree SM9 has “LW” for lob wedge, and the other three wedges follow suit with “PW,” “GW” and “SW.”
It’s just a small touch, but sometimes the small details inspire confidence. And Homa has plenty of confidence at the moment.
Sean Fairholm