Cal Sports Report

Max Homa Tied for Lead at Fortinet Championship after Two Rounds

He was paired with former Cal teammate Michael Kim at this PGA event, and shared a great story about Kim. Another ex-Cal golfer is third.

Jake Curtis

Max Homa Tied for Lead at Fortinet Championship after Two Rounds
Max Homa Tied for Lead at Fortinet Championship after Two Rounds /

Max Homa, one of five former Cal golfers playing in this week’s PGA Tour event, is tied for the lead after the first two rounds of the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California. Homa shot a 5-under-par 67 on Friday at the Silverado Resort and Spa North Course and is 12-under for the tournament, tied with Danny Willett, who fired an 8-under 64 on Friday.

Those two hold a two-stroke lead on the field.

Another former Cal golfer is right behind. Byeong Hun An, who spent one year at Cal before turning pro, shot a 4-under-par 68 and stands at 10-under, leaving him tied for third place with Justin Lower, two stokes off the lead. Lower, who led after the first round, shot a 1-under 71 in the second round, leaving him at 10-under as well.

Homa is the defending champion at this tournament, which is the first PGA Tour event of the 2022-2023 season. But what made the first two rounds particularly enjoyable for Homa was that his former Cal teammate, Michael Kim, was part of his threesome, along with Cameron Champ, for the first two rounds. And Homa, who was Kim’s roommate on the road during their time on the Cal golf team, told a great story about Kim this week, which presumably took place at Cal.

(Check out the Cal golf team picture with Homa and Kim midway through the tweet.)

“It was a great group,” Homa said. “I get along with Cameron really well, obviously get along with Michael really well. It was one of those fun, fun groups, fun couple days. As much as it is competition in golf or whatever, it's nice in between shots to talk and laugh a little bit.”

Unfortunately Kim, who is ranked 376th in the world and played in just five PGA Tour events this past season, will not be playing on Saturday. He shot an even-par 72 on Friday and was at 3-over for the tournament, well below the cutline.

Here’s where the two other former Cal golfers stand at the Fortinet Championship:

--James Hahn shot a 4-under-par 68 on Friday and is 5-under after two rounds.

--Bradon Hagy shot a 1-over 73 in the second round and is at 2-under for the tournament. That should get him into the weekend, but just barely, with the projected cutline being 2-under.

But the story is Homa, who is ranked 20th in the world and will participate in the Presidents Cup next weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“I love coming to California,” said Homa. “I’ve got a great support system here. I've got friends and family up here and a bunch of, you know, people who appreciate I went to school up here."

He had an outstanding start to his second round. Homa began his round on the 10th tee and birdied two of his first three holes, as seen here.

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.He went to 4-under for the day with an eagle on No. 16, his seventh hole of the day.

Homa got to 5-under for the round and 12-under for the tournament with a birdie on No. 1, his 10th hole of the round.

He led the tournament by two strokes at the time. He bogeyed the next hole before getting six pars in row and finishing with a birdie on his final hole of the round.

It's not surprising Homa is competing for a title.  It is surprising that Byeong Hun An is in contention.  He ranks 309th in the world, and has never won a PGA Tour event.  However, An does have wins on the European Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour, the Korean Tour and the Challenge Tour, giving him four pro victories.

The highlight of his second round was an eagle-3 on par-5 No. 9 hole, as seen here:

He finished the day with three birdies to go along with that eagle and a bogey.

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Cover photo of Max Homa by Adam Hagy, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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