Cal Golf: Max Homa Climbs into Contention Then Falls to 16th at the Scottish Open

He played 36 straight holes without a bogey before late meltdown on Sunday.

For 36 consecutive holes — the equivalent of two full rounds — Max Homa played bogey-free golf at the Genesis Scottish Open.

The former Cal star used that stretch to climb into a tie for third place through 11 holes on Sunday at The Renaissance Club at North Berwick, Scotland.

The run of magic ended with a bogey on No. 12 — his first since a bogey on the same par-3 hole back on Friday — that dropped him into a tie for fifth place.

Homa’s chances of rallying from that died with a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 14th hole, and the 29-year-old went on to shoot a 1-over 71 and finish in an eight-way tie for 16th place at 1 under in the tuneup event to The Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews next week.

Twitter

With a career-best No. 19 world ranking, Homa made birdies on Nos. 1, 5 and 7 to go to 5 under for the tournament and put himself within reach of leaders Xander Schauffele and Kurt Kitayama.

He missed a par putt on No. 12 to derail his momentum then scored the double bogey at 14, a hole he parred the first three days. Homa’s round ended with another bogey on No. 18, meaning he played the final seven holes at 4 over. He earned $104,900.

Homa opened the week with back-to-back 1-over 71s on Thursday and Friday, then scored a 4-under 66 on Saturday.

Schauffele carried a two-stroke lead into Sunday and promptly made birdies on his first two holes, stretching his lead to four strokes. With bogeys on Nos. 6, 7 and 9, Schauffele surrendered his lead to Kitayama, the Chico native.

Kitayama had six birdies in his first 14 holes on Sunday and seemed on his way to victory. But Schauffele regained his balance with birdies on 14 and 16, and Kitayama missed his chance to stay at the top when he bogeyed No. 17.

Schauffele, ranked No. 11 in the world, finished the tournament at 7 under after carding a 70 on Sunday. Kitayama, who has never won on the PGA tour and is No 152 in the world rankings, had a final-round 66 to wind up at minus-6 for the week.

This was the first time the PGA Tour co-sanctioned a European tour event. "It's just an honor to win the first one," Schauffele said after his seventh career PGA Tour win..

Kitayama, meanwhile, earned one of three wild-card berths into The Open next week.

J.H. Kim shot a 67 to climb into third place and Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Cantlay tied for fourth. 

Cover photo of Max Homa by Jim Cowsert, USA Today

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