Homa’s super season began at Fortinet Championship in Napa
NAPA — A super season of golf for Max Homa began at the Fortinet Championship in Napa last year.
It began in September with Homa driving the ball well and also hitting his wedges well on the Silverado Resort and Spa North Course, which presents a very stiff test with its narrow fairways and deep rough and also its very difficult greens due to a lot of slope and speed.
It began with Homa playing his final seven holes in 5-under on the way to shooting a 65 and coming from behind to win the season-opening Fortinet Championship, his third win on the PGA Tour.
“I think one thing was very apparent here last year and it obviously didn’t just click for one nine, but a lot of work on the driver the season prior and turning into a great driver of the ball this past season, and then getting to see it in the first event of the season last year here,” Homa said Wednesday.
“This course, if you drive the ball well, you’ll have a lot of wedges. I’ve become a much better wedge player. I drove the ball great last year. My short irons were good. So, I felt like I had a strategy when I went to each event. That was a big change for me. The easiest way to put it is I felt like I had an identity in my golf game and I knew how to take advantage of places because of that.”
Homa continued his outstanding play throughout the 2021–22 season, as he also won the Wells Fargo Championship at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Potomac, Maryland, and finished in a tie for №5 in the FedExCup standings. Other highlights included:
* Finishing tied for fifth at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday.
* Five Top-10 finishes and 15 Top-25 finishes.
* Making 21 cuts in 24 starts.
* Qualifying for the FedExCup Playoffs for the sixth straight season.
* Advancing to the TOUR Championship for the first time.
- He finished tied for fifth at the TOUR Championship, shooting 62 in the second round.
In early September, he was named as a captain’s pick by U.S. Team Captain Davis Love III for the 2022 Presidents Cup. The Presidents Cup will be played at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 20–25. Homa will be making his first appearance in the Presidents Cup.
“From day one, Max has made it his goal to make the Presidents Cup team in 2022, and I’m thrilled that he will be joining us in Charlotte,” Love said in a press release. “He is one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour, incredibly talented, and a great guy to be around in any locker room, so I would imagine his addition to the team cabin at Quail Hollow will be well-received by everyone.”
This week, Homa is back at Silverado as the defending champion, preparing to play in the Fortinet Championship, an $8 million, FedExCup regular season event, which kicks off the PGA Tour’s 2022–23 season. There are 156 players in the field. They will play on the Silverado North Course, a par-72, 7,123-yard layout.
The tournament — with a field that includes Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland, Alex Noren, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar, Maverick McNealy, Cam Davis of Australia, Si Woo Kim of Republic of Korea, Stewart Cink, Kevin Tway, Brendan Steele, Tom Hoge, Emiliano Grillo, Corey Conners and Harris English — begins with the first round on Thursday, Sept. 15.
There are 30 players here this week who have won on the PGA Tour in the last two years.
First- and second-round starting times begin at 7 a.m. from the Nos. 1 and 10 tees. The final start time the first two days is at 2:22 p.m.
“This event has always been special to me. It’s always held a very cool place in my heart,” Homa said during a pre-tournament interview in the media room Wednesday. “Napa is one of the most fun cities. It’s my wife’s (Lacey’s) favorite tournament to come to, which means a lot when you’re scheduling.”
Fortinet named Homa, a first-team All-American at UC Berkeley as a senior, as a Fortinet Global Brand Ambassador. Homa won the Pac-12 Conference title and the 2013 NCAA Championship for Cal.
“This event is just growing, going higher and higher in my book,” said Homa, a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona. “Getting back here, anytime you come to an event you have had success at, the rush of emotions and the fond memories you have are really cool. I have friends and family that live up and around here, so it’s always nice coming back here and feeling very familiar.”
Homa was stellar in the final round last year — birdies on Nos. 6, 8, 9, 13, 16 and 17, hitting 14-of-18 greens in regulation, and 26 putts. He also eagled the par-4, 393-yard 12th hole, as he holed out from the rough from 95 yards on his second shot and moved to within one shot of McNealy, the leader at the time.
Homa is №20 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
“I’ve always said, get one percent better every day, work hard,” Homa said. “My goal in this game has always been just to progress and whether I’m 22 in the world or hopefully 1 in the world one day, I just want to keep getting better. Golf is a maddening game. You can’t perfect it, so you can always get better at something. So just looking at different areas, of ways we can get a little bit better and keep improving.
“As great as my game has felt, and as great as my season was last season, and as cool as it is to play a Presidents Cup, I’d like to play the Ryder Cup next year.”
Conners, №25 in the Official World Golf Ranking and №26 in the FedEx Cup rankings, is on the International Team for the Presidents Cup later this month.
Conners, who is from Canada, will be making his first Presidents Cup appearance. He had 11 top-25 finishes during the 2021–22 season, with sixth-place finishes at the Masters and RBC Canadian Open.
In a press release, International Team Captain Trevor Immelman said:
“Corey is without doubt one of the best ball-strikers and consistent performers on the PGA Tour. His unwavering support for me and desire to represent our team has been something that I’ve been extremely impressed with and thankful for. Canadians represent such a passionate group of golf fans, and I look forward to hearing that enthusiasm and support for Corey and our entire team next month.”
Conners tied for fifth at the BMW Championship. It was his first career top-5 in a FedExCup Playoffs event. He was sixth at the RBC Canadian Open.
“It was a solid season,” said Conners. “Certainly, a goal of mine was to get back in the winner’s circle last season. Wasn’t able to do that, but felt like my game was really solid. Made some improvements and a lot of really good weeks. Played well in the first couple playoff events to cement my spot in the TOUR Championship, which was another goal, and it’s always nice to end the season there.
“Looking forward, trying to continue the good play, but trying to give myself some more chances to win and continue to have those top finishes in the big events. Excited to be here this week and looking forward to the Presidents Cup next week.”
Conners is making his fourth start at Silverado.
“It’s a great golf course, kind of has an old-school feel, narrow fairways and tree lined. Really impressed with the condition of the golf course. It’s always been good, but getting here this year, it’s in fantastic condition. Got some firmness, which is going to make it challenging. I think the weather forecast looks pretty sunny, so it will continue to firm up and that will definitely make things tricky out there. But great golf course, feel like you can sort of see your shots well and excited for the test,” he said.
