Cal Golf: Max Homa Ties for Seventh Place at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Tied for 11th After Three Rounds, Homa Briefly Pulled Within One Stroke of the Lead

Max Homa completed his best finish of the season Sunday, shooting a final-round 68 to secure a tie for seventh place at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

For a few minutes in the morning, Homa was within sniffing distance of the lead, just one stroke back after an eagle and a birdie on the first three holes.

The 30-year-old Cal grad finished an eventful Sunday with a birdie on No. 18, pulling into a five-way tie for seventh with a 13-under score of 275.

Homa’s finish was his best since being part of a nine-way tie for third at the 2019 3M Open in July 2020. He had four top-10 finishes that season.

He earned $228,930 for his week’s work.

Daniel Berger won the title with a final-round 65, punctuated by a 30-foot eagle on the par-5 18th hole that broke a tie with Maverick McNealy. Berger wound up with an 18-under score of 270.

“That was the best putt I’ve ever hit in my life,” said Berger, whose final round included just one bogey, four birdies and two eagles. He also eagled the par-5 second hole, his fourth eagle of the week.

Berger, 27, took home the first prize of $1,404,000.

Homa was tied for 15th place at Friday’s second round and moved up to a tie for 11th after the third round.

He started fast on Sunday, with an eagle on No. 2 and a birdie on No. 3. Berger also scored an eagle on No. 2 and the leaderboard shuffled wildly throughout the day.

Homa made a double-bogey on the par-3 fifth hole but recovered with birdies on Nos. 6 and 7, making the turn with a three-under 33.

He had bogeys on Nos. 13 and 16, bookending birdies on 14 and 15, then finished with a flourish by scoring a birdie on No. 18.

Homa shot 69-70-68-68 for four days at Pebble.

According to the Golf Channel, Homa on Saturday became just the seventh golfer since 1983 to birdie all four of Pebble’s par-3 holes in the same round. He made birdies at Nos. 5, 7, 12 and 17, holing putts of 6, 7, 10 and 16 feet, respectively.

Asked for a reaction to that news, Homa quipped, “Sick.”

First-round leader Patrick Cantlay and third-round leader Jordan Spieth tied for their at 15 under, one stroke back of McNealy. 

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Cover photo of Max Homa by Orlando Ramirez, USA Today

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