Seven Years After First Meeting, Collin Morikawa and Max Homa Are Teammates This Week

The two Cal grads will partner for the Zurich Classic team event at New Orleans.

Max Homa and Collin Morikawa, who will team up this week at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, first played golf together back in June of 2016.

Along with fellow Cal golfer Brandon Hagy, they partnered for a nine-hole practice round at the Capital Classic, an event on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour, a minor-league professional event in Wichita, Kansas.

Homa was 25 years old and at a low point in his golf career, trying to earn a spot on the PGA tour.

Morikawa was 19 and had just finished his freshman season at Cal. This was his first time meeting Homa, who won the 2013 NCAA championship while competing for the Bears.

“Part of the reason I went to Cal was because of Max and what that team did in 2012 and 2013,” Morikawa said this week.

Morikawa remembers spending much of the day seven years ago chatting with Hagy as they walked the course. Homa, he recalled, was all business. “He didn’t care about me at all — I was just some fat little kid walking around out of college,” Morikawa said.

It didn’t take long for Morikawa to get Homa’s attention. “In the nine holes we played I was really impressed,” Homa said.

Then the event began in earnest and Morikawa gave a glimpse of things to come. While Homa failed the make the cut, Morikawa tore up the course, firing 7-under 63s on Saturday and Sunday to force a three-way playoff. He lost, but Homa had seen enough.

“It’s a big spot for a kid to be playing in a professional golf tournament. He went out and lost in a playoff. So it’s not one of those where he had a great practice round,” Homa recalled this week. “I think from the jump, anybody who played with him in college, I’m assuming high school, there’s just a golfing gift there.

“That first time we played, I was like this guy does not really hit a bad shot. I would be lying if in the back of my head as someone trying to get their (tour) card, that I wasn’t a bit jealous that a (19-year-old) kid just absolutely dominated me for a week.”

Morikawa, now 26, turned pro three years later after graduating from Cal and since 2019 has won five times on the tour, including a pair of majors. Homa, 32, resurrected his career, and had posted a pair of victories each of the past two seasons.

Homa is now No. 7 in the world golf rankings and Morikawa, after flirting with No. 1 a year-and-half ago, is 13th. 

The two have each earned more than $20 million in winnings since that first meeting.

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They are tickled to be partners in New Orleans, a team event which employs alternating rounds of four-ball and foursome play. Eighty two-player teams are competing and Team Homakawa, as they’ve dubbed themselves, is ready for this break in the usual PGA tour routine.

“We are very competitive people so we are here to get the job done,” Homa said. “But it will also be a nice break, getting to hang out and have some laughs . . . more laughs than a normal tour week.”

“We’re having more dinners, you’re going out a but little more, hanging out with Max throughout the week, which normally I wouldn’t do,” Morikawa added. “But at the end of the day we’re here to win. It still counts as a win. That’s the thing — we’re not showing up here just to have fun.”

Deciding to team this week with his fellow Cal alum was an easy call, Homa said. “If you’ve ever watched Colin play, that was my motivation,” he said. “To be able to be a partner of his, it looks like he’s got strong legs so I can hop on his back. There will be no fatigue this week for me.”

Both grew up in Los Angeles and Homa was a huge Kobe Bryant fan, focusing in particular on the late Los Angeles Lakers star’s famous work ethic.

“Between him and Tiger Woods, it was right in the sweet spot of me growing up. Just their work ethic is what I’ve taken from them, and especially Kobe. I’ve read his books, I’ve read stories about him, his interviews. He’s just got a drive I don’t think is rivaled by anyone,” Homa said.

“I’ve just tried to take that with me as best I can. As Collin astutely mentioned, I’m significantly older than him and in order to keep up with all this young talent, my way to do that is to work as hard as I can, be the first one in, last one out mentality.”

If Morikawa has provided Homa with motivation to improve his game, Morikawa says he appreciates how Homa was an example of how to be a pro and helped him make the transition.

“Max has given me a lot of praise and I’m going to give him a lot of praise right now: He was our volunteer assistant coach when I was in college and you don’t really do that when you’re fighting for your card on the PGA tour. Not many guys would do that,” Morikawa said.

“The effort he puts into things that he really cares about and the people he loves is incredible. People see him on social media but he truly does care about a lot of people. It’s amazing how that comes through and it’s just hard to find people like that.

“I’m very lucky to have someone like that as my partner this week. We’re all here to win.”

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa and Max Homa 

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo