Weekly Read Fore! Things: Max Homa's Rally, Jon Rahm's Run and Two Cuts Made in One Week

The Farmers Insurance Open had a impressive winner with Max Homa's Sunday rally, and a rare story in 72nd place.
Weekly Read Fore! Things: Max Homa's Rally, Jon Rahm's Run and Two Cuts Made in One Week
Weekly Read Fore! Things: Max Homa's Rally, Jon Rahm's Run and Two Cuts Made in One Week /

More Weekly Read: Hard Feelings Persist Around LIV | The Future of DP World Tour Fields | LIV Golf's Changing C-Suite 

Fore! Things

1. Max Homa’s victory at the Farmers Insurance Open was impressive in many ways, including rallying from five back. His final-round 66 was one of just 11 scores under par and one of just three—along with Keegan Bradley and Jason Day—under 69.

2. Jon Rahm was unable to pull off a third straight victory, but there is no shame in another top 10. Starting with the FedEx St. Jude—the PGA Tour’s first playoff event last August—Rahm has gone T5, T8, T16, T2, win, T4, win, T8, win, win, T7.

3. U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick is the only top-10 player in the world entered at Pebble Beach this week. Jordan Spieth is also in a field that has just 22 of the top 100 in the world.

4. Harold Varner defends his title at the PIF Saudi International, the Asian Tour event that will see nearly every LIV Golf player tee it up. Bubba Watson is making his first start since having a knee procedure following last year’s PGA Championship.

Fore! More Things

1. After contending the week prior in Abu Dhabi, Padraig Harrington, 50, shot an opening-round 81 in Dubai—then bounced back with a 16-shot improvement, a 65. He still missed the cut.

2. Circumstances allowed Scott Brown to play in two events last week, not without controversy. Brown made the cut at the Korn Ferry Tour event in the Bahamas, which concluded on Wednesday. But because he got into the field at the Farmers Insurance Open, he withdrew to head to San Diego. It’s hard to pass up a PGA Tour start and it was also impossible for Brown to know he’d get in. He ended up finishing 72nd after shooting 77-77 over the final two rounds.

3. LIV Golf is expected to fill out the rest of its 48-player field for the start of its league season this week while the Saudi International tournament is being played outside of Jeddah. But this announcement has been delayed several times.

4. There are 66 days until the first round of the Masters.


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Bob Harig
BOB HARIG

Bob Harig is a senior writer covering golf for Sports Illustrated. He has more than 25 years experience on the beat, including 15 at ESPN. Harig is a regular guest on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio and has written two books, "DRIVE: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods" and "Tiger and Phil: Golf's Most Fascinating Rivalry." He graduated from Indiana University where he earned an Evans Scholarship, named in honor of the great amateur golfer Charles (Chick) Evans Jr. Harig, a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America, lives in Clearwater, Fla.