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The scorecard for Max Homa's start to The Players Championship roared up and down like a roller coaster with rocket fuel.
He holed out from 137 yards. He missed a bogey putt from less than 3 feet. He shot 5-over par in a four-hole span. He birdied four others consecutively.
"It was one of the weirder days I've ever had," he said.
The Players brought a thrill-a-minute chaos ride for Homa, who carded perhaps the day's most eventful 1-under 71 and stood four strokes off the lead when he completed his March 12 first round in his return to The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
Homa briefly vaulted to the top of the leaderboard minutes after sunrise when his second shot of the day — a 137-yard approach on the par-4 No. 10 — found the cup for an eagle.
"I thought if I drew my gap wedge three or four right of it, it wouldn't go long, and if I hit it good, maybe it would work its way over there," Homa said.
But that wasn't the end of the story for Homa. He double-bogeyed No. 12 after a wild tee shot, and No. 15, after a miss from 2 feet, 11 inches. By the time he bogeyed No. 1, failing to extricate himself from a fairway bunker on his second, he had slipped to 3-over.
Then, a birdie parade on Nos. 2 (putt of 6 feet, 4 inches), 5 (31 feet, 4 inches), 6 (3 feet), 7 (3 feet, 9 inches) and 8 (7 feet, 1 inch). Despite the frustration of a closing three-putt bogey on 9, Homa advanced toward the weekend with confidence.
"I didn't hit a lot more fairways, but I hit it in better spots and then took advantage of my iron game, so that was nice," he said.
Homa tied for sixth at the Stadium Course in 2023, which was also the year of his most recent victory on the PGA Tour. Since then, he's slipped from the top five of the Official World Golf Ranking to No. 149.
Thursday's first-round difficulties, Homa said, stemmed in part from his adjustment to a "very, very firm" course. For future rounds, he's planning to skip the roller-coaster tickets.
"I've never played this place even remotely like that," he said. "It'll probably be more comfortable for us playing the rest of the week because I just don't think it's going to get that firm anymore.
"But it was fun while it lasted."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Max Homa's wild first round at Players Championship golf
Continue reading...
He holed out from 137 yards. He missed a bogey putt from less than 3 feet. He shot 5-over par in a four-hole span. He birdied four others consecutively.
"It was one of the weirder days I've ever had," he said.
The Players brought a thrill-a-minute chaos ride for Homa, who carded perhaps the day's most eventful 1-under 71 and stood four strokes off the lead when he completed his March 12 first round in his return to The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
Homa briefly vaulted to the top of the leaderboard minutes after sunrise when his second shot of the day — a 137-yard approach on the par-4 No. 10 — found the cup for an eagle.
"I thought if I drew my gap wedge three or four right of it, it wouldn't go long, and if I hit it good, maybe it would work its way over there," Homa said.
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But that wasn't the end of the story for Homa. He double-bogeyed No. 12 after a wild tee shot, and No. 15, after a miss from 2 feet, 11 inches. By the time he bogeyed No. 1, failing to extricate himself from a fairway bunker on his second, he had slipped to 3-over.
Then, a birdie parade on Nos. 2 (putt of 6 feet, 4 inches), 5 (31 feet, 4 inches), 6 (3 feet), 7 (3 feet, 9 inches) and 8 (7 feet, 1 inch). Despite the frustration of a closing three-putt bogey on 9, Homa advanced toward the weekend with confidence.
"I didn't hit a lot more fairways, but I hit it in better spots and then took advantage of my iron game, so that was nice," he said.
Homa tied for sixth at the Stadium Course in 2023, which was also the year of his most recent victory on the PGA Tour. Since then, he's slipped from the top five of the Official World Golf Ranking to No. 149.
Thursday's first-round difficulties, Homa said, stemmed in part from his adjustment to a "very, very firm" course. For future rounds, he's planning to skip the roller-coaster tickets.
"I've never played this place even remotely like that," he said. "It'll probably be more comfortable for us playing the rest of the week because I just don't think it's going to get that firm anymore.
"But it was fun while it lasted."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Max Homa's wild first round at Players Championship golf
Continue reading...
