Max Homa's Place in the Golf Landscape Continues its Ascension

The Cal grad is recognized by ESPN as one of the sport's 25 most influential names.

Max Homa’s growth from feel-good golf story to being a big deal in the sport continues to evolve. The 32-year-old Cal grad has been ranked by ESPN as 21st among the 25 most influential names in golf.

This comes weeks after The Athletic named Homa its “Golf Person of the Year.”

Collin Morikawa, who emerged as a premier player in his first three years on the tour, is no longer the flavor of the month among Cal alums on the PGA tour. That could revert at any moment because of Morikawa’s elite talent.

Homa is in the spotlight partly because of his play, which earned him two PGA tour titles in 2022 along with a headline performance in the Presidents Cup. But he also has become a popular figure on the tour and entertaining contributor to social media.

Here’s what ESPN wrote about Homa:

21. Max Homa

Homa won twice during the 2021-22 wraparound schedule, taking home the season-opening Fortinet Championship and the Wells Fargo Championship. It was a breakthrough campaign in many ways, as he won multiple times in the same season for the first time, qualified for the Tour Championship for the first time and made his initial appearance on the U.S. team as a pro -- he was a captain's choice for the Presidents Cup. He won the Fortinet Championship again in September, at the start of the 2022-23 schedule. Homa is one of the funniest golfers on social media, and he's even better now that he's a first-time dad. Homa and his wife, Lacey, welcomed their son, Cam, on Oct. 30.

Homa’s Twitter account has nearly a half-million followers because he doesn’t take himself seriously and is happy to stray from pure golf talk.

A few examples from just the past month: 

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The top-5 of ESPN's list of most influential golf names in 2022 features PGA commissioner Jay Monahan at No. 5, LIV tour leader Greg Norman at No. 4, top-ranked and PGA tour proponent Rory McIlroy at No. 3, Tiger Woods at No. 2 and controversial LIV supporter Phil Mickelsen at No. 1.

All of them, with the possible exception of Woods, occupy their positions because of their connection to the year-long saga of the Saudi-backed LIV tour. For many golf fans, the battle between the two tours was an unwanted distraction from the game itself.

Homa, having climbed to No. 17 in the world rankings and as a fresh counterpoint to all the controversy of 2022, drew the attention of The Athletic, which identified him as its Golf Person of the Year.

Twitter / Twitter

Some highlights from Brendan Quinn's story: 

He’s also our Golf Person of the Year for 2022, and perhaps you’re cocking an eyebrow. Yes, others performed better, no doubt . . . But this past year in professional golf wasn’t about any of that, was it? It wasn’t defined by who won what, but instead by how we felt about the sport as a whole. Everything played out through the prism of LIV Golf’s marauding arrival. All of it. Every week . . .

But then there was Homa.

The 32-year-old exists in a rare sweet spot, and never was it more needed and welcomed than in 2022.

Homa is the uncommon professional athlete who treats his career as a shared experience. This year, more than any, made this profoundly interesting. We didn’t need a Netflix documentary to get inside Homa’s head. The doors are always open. In a landscape of players bending their words to fit personal narratives or to never startle the horses or to outright lie, Homa spoke (and speaks) with unsentimental honesty. No holier than thou preaching. No corporate talk. He turned down LIV’s money but didn’t bewail those who did. He spoke for himself. Amid the summer torrent of LIV news, he went on the “No Laying Up” podcast and said this:

“There’s this argument now that it’s playing for money or playing for trophies. I call bulls— because we play for a lot of f—— money also. I don’t know if there’s an amount of money at this moment that would get me to quit the PGA Tour and I would not get to play the Presidents Cup. That’s what wakes me up in the morning.” 

Max Homa with wife Lacey and their son Cam / Instagram

Sentry Tournament of Champions

Homa and Morikawa, ranked No. 11 in the world, will participate in the first tournament of 2023 beginning Thursday at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Hawaii.

The 30-player field includes winners on the tour in 2022 and top-30 entries on last season's FedEx Cup points list. The field also includes reigning PGA Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele. 

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa celebrating at the Presidents Cup by Peter Casey, USA Today

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