Cal Sports Report

Max Homa Records His Best Finish Ever in a Major at The Open

Brian Harlan wins by six strokes to capture his first major title in the rain in England

Jake Curtis

Former Cal golfer Max Homa had his best finish ever at a major by winding up tied for 10th at The Open on Sunday, but no one could catch Brian Harman, who captured his first major title.

Harman recorded a final round score of 1-under-par 70 on a rainy day in Hoylake, England, at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, and that left him 13-under for the tournament, six strokes ahead of the field.

Harman began the day with a five-shot lead, and when he bogeyed two of the first five holes, it appeared he might be falling apart. But he birdied the next two holes to get back on track and maintained his big lead the rest of the way. Not only was it Harman’s first major title, but it was his first win at any PGA Tour event since 2017.

Jon Rahm, Jason Day, Tom Kim and Sepp Straka finished tied for second at 7-under, and Rory McIlroy and Emiliano Grill were another stroke back at 6-under.

Homa had a solid final round, carding a 2-under-par 69 to finish at 4-under for the tournament. His tie for 10th place bettered his previous best showing at a major, which was a tie for 13th at the 2022 PGA Championship.  It was also Homa's ninth top-10 finish in the 2022-23 season.

Homa has struggled in majors so this weekend's showing was a significant accomplishment. His third-best finish in a major was tied for 40th, and he missed the cut in nine of his previous 15 majors, including last year's British Open and this year's U.S. Open last month.

Homa finished this event nine strokes behind Harman, but just three strokes out of second place. Homa, who is ranked No. 8 in the world, finished ahead of some big names, including top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Victor Hovland, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth.

Homa takes home $377,000 for his work at The Open, considerably less than the $3 million Harman made as the winner.

Homa was paired with Spieth on Sunday, and since Spieth is American it made life a little easier for Homa than it had been on Saturday. Homa’s third-round playing partner was Rory McIlroy, the star from Northern Ireland who was a crowd favorite in this event in the United Kingdom.

Byeon Hun An, who played one year of college golf at Cal, had a pretty good final round, although it was marred by a double bogey on the 17th hole. He rebounded with a birdie on the final hole to finish with a 1-over-par score of 72, leaving him at even par for the tournament.

An finished in a tie for 23rd place, his second-best finish in a major. He finished tied for 16th in the 2019 U.S. Open.

Cover photo of Max Homa by Kyle Terada, 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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