Here’s Why Max Homa’s 10-Under 63 at Kapalua Felt Like a ‘Nice Stroll’

A hot putter and some quality banter with playing partner Justin Thomas made Homa’s 63 feel easy.

An easy, breezy, 63: Max Homa’s 10-under Saturday round is the low score of the week so far at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. 

With a front nine 31 and a back nine 32, Homa rolled in putts from everywhere at Kapalua’s Plantation Course. Homa said his long-game has felt solid all week—he shot solid back-to-back rounds of 70 to start off the calendar year—but before Saturday, he just couldn’t get those key extra putts to drop. 

Once his flat stick started to heat up on Moving Day, however, the World No. 17 ran with the momentum.

“I hit it great. I’ve been playing pretty well, I hit it great the last couple of days, just didn’t make anything,” Homa said.

Known for being one of the funnier and more social-media savvy players on Tour, Homa couldn’t resist using a Happy Gilmore quote to describe what changed for him on Saturday.

“The ball started going to its home today, which makes things feel a lot easier,” he said.

From WAY downtown 👀

@MaxHoma23 making it look easy @Sentry_TOC. pic.twitter.com/G3weRQr6M4

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 7, 2023

Homa’s putter may have been the primary answer to the round that catapulted him up the leaderboard, but his playing partner had a hand in his success as well. The 32-year-old was paired up with Justin Thomas, and the two appeared to be having a blast throughout the entire round.

“Got to play with Justin Thomas, who was really fun to play with, and we were both in a group making a lot of birdies,” said Homa. “It is kind of fitting for Hawai’i, it felt kind of like a nice stroll, good views. I fortunately didn’t make it too stressful on myself.”

With a hot putter, breathtaking Maui views, and four hours of quality banter with Thomas, it’s safe to say the five-time PGA Tour winner had a few things going for him on Saturday.

Thomas clearly felt similarly about the pairing, as he shared a screenshot of the PGA Tour’s tee-time notification text on Friday night. “See your pretty face tomorrow, @MaxHoma,” Thomas wrote.

It seems as though the day lived up to expectations. On the 204-yard par-3 8th, Homa’s tee shot banked off of the right side of the green and tracked towards the hole. Cameras caught Thomas as he reacted to Homa’s ace attempt. The reigning PGA Champion dashed over to Homa and playfully consoled him as he watched the ball just nearly miss the cup.

Awesome shot, even better reaction 😅

@MaxHoma23 and @JustinThomas34 both thought this was going in @Sentry_TOC. pic.twitter.com/gJzVF6lzZb

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 7, 2023

When asked about his best conversation with Thomas throughout the day, Homa didn’t give away much.

“I can never share those,” said Homa. “But I did tell him he sounded really cool walking with his spikes from 17 to 18 on the concrete. He said he might wear ‘em to the pool today.”