Max Homa's Ace at Arnold Palmer Invitational Heard, Not Seen
ORLANDO, Fla. – A huge roar from the gallery around Bay Hill’s 14th green caused Max Homa to turn around and look on a bright, hot Saturday afternoon.
Oh. He’d just made a hole-in-one.
That’s right, he didn’t see his ball go in. He wasn’t even watching it. I call that a smooth pro move. He calls it being seriously nearsighted.
“I can barely see a 30-footer go in I've got such bad eyes,” Homa said with a laugh. “I don't usually watch. I just listen.”
Homa, 32, is a University of California alum, a former NCAA champion, a three-time PGA Tour winner and whose given name is John Maxwell Homa. Even though he won the 2021 Genesis Invitational and the 2021 Fortinet Championship, he may be best known to the golfing public for his humorous Twitter skills.
But it’s true, you can check out the video on the internet, Homa wasn’t looking toward the green when the ace happened. Playing partner Scottie Scheffler was but, hey, let the TwitterMeister tell it…
“Fortunately, the tour moved the tee up,” Homa said. “So we onlyl had a pitching wedge in. Scottie hit a great shot like 20 feet left of the hole. We were playing for it to probably land just right of that.
“I hit a really nice shot. It started to fall a little bit right. I was trying to hit like a little cut and just put it high up in the air. And I hit it well, and it started to drift right. I wasn't sure it was going to be all right. Then when it landed, I heard somebody clap, so I knew it was good. I turned around to get a water from some friends… and then it went crazy.”
Homa got some kind of faux chest bump from his caddie, Joe Greiner, that could’ve used slightly better choreography. “We chest bumped or maybe just kind of ran into each other,” said Homa, who got a high-five from Scheffler and a medium high-five from Ted Scott, Scheffler’s caddie. Also, Homa did a little indescribable arm-pump stutter-step thing that is just awkward enough to have a shelf life as an internet meme.
Golf is a funny game. Sometimes, you-know-what happens. And sometimes, golf happens. On this afternoon, Homa experienced a little of both.
“It’s funny because on the 13th green, I hit a good lag putt—I thought,” Homa said. “The wind picked up and blew my ball 12 feet past the hole. I was kind of just spiraling, frustrated about that. Scottie and Ted both said the ace made up for what happened on 13. They’re two of the best guys out here, so it was cool to do it with them.”
The TwitterMeister noted his achievement on the Internet. In fact, he was typing on his cellphone right when he was about to start an interview session with several media members who seemed interested. Barstool BigCat had tweeted, “Is this a real tournament?” It was attached to the video clip of Homa’s ace. Homa tweeted back, “Brooks (Koepka) isn’t here so I feel like u will say it’s not.”
Homa also did his best Happy Gilmore impression by shouting on Twitter, “GO TO UR HOME BALL!!”
What’s different about a hole-in-one for a tour player and an ace for the average hack is that while the average person considers it a lifetime achievement-bucket list moment, it’s just one more shot for a tour professional. “Unfortunately, you finish the hole and you get to 15, which is the hardest frickin' tee shot maybe out here on tour,” Homa said. “So you don't really have much time to enjoy.”
After the bogey at 13, Homa aced 14, birdied the par-5 16th but then finished bogey-bogey for 73, tied for 18th with a group of players that includes Jon Rahm, No. 1 in the world. Homa is at even-par 216 through 54 holes. He probably isn’t in position to win unless he goes super-low Sunday and the way Bay Hill played with browned, hardened greens and gusty winds Saturday, going super-low is something like the 68 Scheffler and Chris Kirk shot.
It is traditional for amateurs to celebrate an ace by buying drinks. What, a tour pro is going to pay up for a thousand or so fans lining the 14th hole? No. Asked how he’ll celebrate the ace, Homa said, “I’m going to try to shoot under par tomorrow. I’ll celebrate later. My buddy, Neil, is getting married today. Maybe I’ll Venmo him some money. I don’t know if he has an open bar.”
Homa was off the hook with the fans, however, thanks to tournament sponsor MasterCard. In honor of his ace, MasterCard will donate $200,000 to the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation. Plus, everyone who purchased tickets to the Palmer Patio (located at 14) for Saturday’s round will get two passes for the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Homa played with Jazz Janewattananond in last year’s API third round when Jazz (don’t make me spellcheck his name a second time, please) also aced the 14th hole. So, he’s seen an ace there two years in a row. “That’s kind of weird,” Homa admitted.
It was Homa’s first ace on the PGA Tour, the eighth of his life. The first came on the Chica Course, a nine-hole par-3 track, at Vista Valencia Golf Course in Santa Clarita, Calif. It happened in the Mikey Lynn Memorial Tournament. “On the eighth hole, it was like 72 yards,” Homa recalled. “I hit sand wedge. Kicked it off the left fringe and it rolled into the hole.”
He was 9 or 10 years old, he said, and didn’t get a trophy for the ace but did get a trophy for sneaking into third place. Even better, he got bragging rights.
“I got a great picture with my buddy, Eric, who was five years older than me,” Homa said. “At the time, he was, like, three feet taller than me. I’m there, so happy with this trophy, and he’s so mad that he tied a 9-year-old. I still have that picture somewhere. Or, my mom does.”
Homa and his pal stay in contact with each other. “He knows exactly which picture I mean because I still bring it up every time I see him,” Homa joked.
The one part that’s better about an ace if you’re a touring pro and not a dew-sweeping hacker is that you’ve got a captive audience to watch your shot.
“I got a huge ovation at the green,” Homa said. “It was cool. There were a lot of people on that green, a lot of people. It was fun to hear everybody cheering. Obviously, they’ve been sitting there for a while so it was probably fun for them to see a 1.
“It was crazy. Out here on tour, it feels super lucky. It usually is lucky. It was very cool. The roar was awesome. That’s one I won’t forget.”
Neither will Scheffler.
“I think he owes us a drink,” Scheffler said, grinning. “Isn’t that how it works?”
Usually, yes. Collecting on that is always the hard part.