There’s just something about California for Max Homa. He was born and raised in the Golden State, and he wins a lot of golf tournaments here.
Take Sunday, for example. Homa won the PGA TOUR’s season-opening event at the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, marking the second time he’s won a TOUR event in his home state in the last eight months.
Homa won The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in February. “With disappointment comes a lot of motivation,” Homa, 30, said. “Not making East Lake (for the TOUR Championship) hurt. Not making the Ryder Cup team hurt. These last two weeks, I worked my tail off. So it was fun to get out here and play some great golf and get a win in front of a bunch of friends and family.”
The key moment came on No. 17 when he drained an 18-foot birdie putt and let out a fist pump to take a one-shot lead before closing it out on the final hole. The numbers tell the story. Homa has played in 30 TOUR events in California, and he now has two wins in the state.
He has played in 98 TOUR events outside of California, and has notched one victory. As the new saying will now go: “Homa Sweet Homa.”
ON (TO) WISCONSIN FOR RYDER CUP
The 43rd playing of the Ryder Cup heads to Whistling Straits on the shores of Lake Michigan, a year later than originally scheduled. Wisconsin native Steve Stricker captains the U.S. Team and looks to avenge a 17.5 – 10.5 loss against Europe in 2018 in Paris, France. Padraig Harrington will lead the European team.
On paper, it appears the U.S. should be considered the favorite (the average world ranking of the squad is 9, while Europe’s is 30), but the U.S. has won only two Ryder Cups in the last 20 years.
Youth vs. experience will be the battle as the U.S. is sending six rookies to Whistling Straits. Europe boasts two Ryder Cup veterans in Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia and two rookies with Viktor Hovland and Bernd Wiesberger. Garcia has earned the most points of anyone in the history of the Ryder Cup and is looking to add to his total.
Stricker’s team will need to win 14.5 points to win the Ryder Cup, while Europe will only need 14 to retain. And we know it’s been a few years since the previous Ryder Cup, so here’s a refresher on how the format works.
