Cal Sports Report

The Match: Max Homa Goes Home Without a Skin, But Has Fun. As Usual.

Rory McIlroy dominates the four-player made-for-TV charity event, involving women for the first time.

Jeff Faraudo

The Match: Max Homa Goes Home Without a Skin, But Has Fun. As Usual.
The Match: Max Homa Goes Home Without a Skin, But Has Fun. As Usual. /

Max Homa went home empty-handed from 2024 edition of The Match, the made-for-TV skins golf event at Park golf course at West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday night. But the 33-year-old Cal grad appeared to have a great time.

Afterward, he confirmed that notion on social media:

Max Homa tweet
Twitter

Playing under the lights with women in the four-player field for the first time, Homa didn’t win a hole, prompting him to jokingly grouse to TNT commentators Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley.

“My mom is watching . . . can you imagine?” Homa said. “I’m not going to be able to sleep.”

Homa, on closest-to-the-hole, hits Rory’s ball early in the round:

This was Rory McIlroy's second appearance in The Match and he dominated, winning 10 skins over 12 holes. In 2022, he and teammate Tiger Woods lost to Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.

Homa, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang were first-timers in the event.

Homa's blind shot from the sand on No. 4:

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Homa annoyed (sort of) he has a big fat zero after 10 holes

McIlroy entered the last of 12 holes — a 586-yard par 5 — having earned $800,000 for charity while Thompson of the LPGA tour, had $200,000. Homa and Zhang, 20, the former Stanford star,, each were looking to win a hole for the first time.

Homa nailed a long putt but no one took the hole so they moved on to a closest-to-the-hole competition from 100 yards out. It was over quickly after McIlroy put his shot just 4 feet, 2 inches from the hole.

The 12th was worth $500,000 plus a $600,000 carryover from previous holes and a $500,000 bonus that a mystery friend of McIlroy donated to the purse. That means McIlroy secured $1.6 million for charity with his final shot, adding to his previous winnings.

But he made a long putt late in the evening:

One of the most popular players on the PGA tour, Homa was comfortable in his exchanges with the hosts.

Johnson asked him about his career nearly collapsing a few years back before emerging as a viable player the past four years. He has won six tour events since 2018 and is ranked No. 7 in the world.

“It is pretty cool. Everything’s just kind of gravy at this point,” Homa said. “I’m very happy to continue to be able to play with all these mega-stars. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster road but it makes me appreciate these things a lot more.”

Barkley, the former NBA star and famously terrible golfer, asked Homa if he'd rather be a member of the same golf club with Barkley or be neighbors.

“If I was your neighbor,” Homa said, “that means my house would be a lot bigger."

Cover photo of Max Homa

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

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Jeff Faraudo
JEFF FARAUDO

Jeff Faraudo was a sports writer for Bay Area daily newspapers since he was 17 years old, and was the Oakland Tribune's Cal beat writer for 24 years. He covered eight Final Fours, four NBA Finals and four Summer Olympics. 

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