Cal Sports Report

Max Homa Stays Close With Opening-Round 68 at U.S. Open

Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele share lead with record rounds of 62, so Homa still owns course record -- barely

Jake Curtis

Max Homa did not come close to matching the course record he established – and still owns -- while at Cal 10 years ago, but he had a pretty good day on Thursday in the opening round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

Homa’s 2-under-par score of 68 on Thursday is seven strokes worse than the 61 he fired while setting the course mark and winning the NCAA individual championship at Los Angeles Country Club in 2013. 

More importantly it is six strokes behind the leaders after one round of this U.S. Open. Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffelle are tied at the top after spectacular rounds of 8-under 62, one shot off Homa’s course record but still a record for the lowest scoring round ever in a U.S. Open and tied for the lowest round at any major championship.. 

Dustin Johnson and Wyndham Clark are tied for third, two strokes back at 6-under, and Brian Harman and Rory McIlroy are another stroke back at 5-under after McIlroy bogeyed his final hole.

But Homa is within striking distance, tied for 14th.

Here's how Homa put together a birdie on No. 3:

And a long, winding putt for birdie on the 15th hole helped Homa get to 2-under:

It was a promising start for Homa, who is ranked seventh in the world but has never come close to winning a major. This is Homa’s 16th major and he has never finished better than tied for 13th and missed the cut in eight of the previous 15 tries.

With his round of four birdies and two bogeys he is in good position to make the cut in this event in which the top 60 golfers and ties will advance to Saturday’s third round.

The same can’t be said for the other two former Cal golfers in the field – Collin Morikawa and Michael Kim – who are in danger of missing the cut.

Morikawa played in the same threesome with Homa and Scottie Scheffler on Thursday, but did not fare as well as his playing partners. Scheffler finds himself in the thick of things after shooting a 3-under 67 on Thursday, but Morikawa has some work to do to in the second round.

Morikawa has two major titles to his name, but things started poorly for him at this event. He bogeyed his first two holes on his way to a 1-over-par round of 71, leaving him tied for 56th place. Morikawa had to withdraw before the final round of his previous tournament two weeks ago because of back spasms, so health could be an issue for him.

Morikawa is tied with two other players who figured to challenge for the title -- Brooks Koepka and Patrick Cantlay, who also shot 1-over-par 71s to put them in danger of missing the cut as well.

Kim faces an uphill climb to make the cut. He had two double bogeys in his round, which ended with a score of 4-over-par 74, leaving him tied for 133rd with a lot of golfers to pass to make the cut.

Homa talks about the 61 he shot at the Los Angeles Country Club while playing for Cal 10 years ago:

Cover photo of Max Homa and Scottie Scheffler is by Kiyoshi Mio, 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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