The Cal 100: No. 76 -- Max Homa

The 2013 NCAA champion assembled rags-to-riches story like few others in golf.

We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.

No. 76: Max Homa

Cal Sports Connection: Homa won the 2013 NCAA golf championship, aided by a first-round score of 9-under 61 at the Los Angels Country Club.

Claim to Fame: He was off the PGA Tour after missing the cut 15 times in 17 events in 2016-17, but has returned to win six titles and earn more than $21 million in his career.

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Had we assembled The Cal 100 just five years ago, Max Homa would be nowhere to be found. Because that’s pretty much where he was on the PGA Tour landscape.

His world ranking at that point was No. 1,282. It came on the heels of a 2016-17 season in which Homa missed the cut in 15 of 17 tournaments, won a total of $18,008 on the tour and lost his PGA player card.

Homa had been a star at Cal. He won he 2013 NCAA individual championship, but Cal lost the team championship that year when Homa lost in the deciding match of the semifinals in a tense head-to-head matchup that went two extra holes.  That defeat had an emotional effect on Homa as this video shows.

He's crying and talked about how he let his family down, yet he answers every question from the media.

After his slow start professionally, Homa kept working . . . and it paid off in a next chapter that athletes only dream about.

Homa and son Cam / Instagram

Now 32, married with a six-month-old son, Homa is ranked No. 7 in the world. He was No. 6 a week ago before a burp at the PGA Championship, but that’s a minor blemish on a resume of recent seasons that is filled with highlight moments.

— He has won two tournaments each of the past two seasons, giving him six for his career — one more than even his famous fellow Cal alum Collin Morikawa.

— He was unbeaten in four matches last year at the Presidents Cup, earning an A-plus rating from Golf Digest and helping the U.S. to a decisive victory over their international rivals.

— Homa has increased his winnings each of the past three seasons, from $3.4 million in 2020-21 to $5.3 million in 2021-22 to $8.3 already this season. His career earnings now have topped $21 million.

“Sometimes my life feels too good to be true,” said Homa, who checks in at No. 76 on The Cal 100.

Virtually anonymous a half-dozen years ago, Homa is now appreciated for not only his golfing skills and determination but also his spirit.

He was ranked last year by ESPN as the 21st most influential names in golf and honored by The Athletic as its “Golf Person of the Year.”

Max Homa / Photo by John David Mercer, USA Today

Homa boasts legions of fans who would second both of those endorsements. He has 575,000 Twitter followers and 445,000 on Instagram. And it’s not because those folks want to keep track of his scores.

Homa is a fun and self-deprecating personality, and he shares his sometimes sideways opinions with those who care about him. Just last week, while struggling at the PGA, Homa tweeted that he took the time to walk down the center of the fairway at Oak Hill Country Club to see what it felt like.

Back in 2017, he tweeted, "Had a few caddies hit me up recently hoping to team up. They heard they usually get weekends off which is apparently a great selling point.”

But Homa wants folks to know he’s about golf first.

"Everybody else calls me the social media guy," Homa said. "I still think I'm a pretty darn good golfer. Obviously, (the) results helped me kind of build that foundation. I do like to say dumb things and make dumb jokes and observe weird stuff and tweet about it like, you know, a kid, I guess.

“But when I work, when I practice, when I play tournaments . . . this is what I love.”

The one hole in his professional resume is winning a major. He hasn’t come close yet. But the U.S. Open begins June 15 at the Los Angeles Country Club in Homa’s hometown.

Homa has some history there. It’s the facility where he won the NCAA title 10 years ago, and his opening-round score of 9-under 61 remains the course record.

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-- No. 77: Troy Taylor

Cover photo of Max Homa courtesy of Instagram

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