MONTREAL – Max Homa is tired of throwing mud at the wall.
It was a frustrating season for Homa, who failed to make it back to Atlanta and the Tour Championship. It began with great promise after he went to South Africa in November and won the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Then he was chasing his first major championship into the back nine on Sunday at the Masters until he made a disastrous double bogey at No. 12. The rest of the season? Fairly pedestrian with just one top-10 finish since that has seen him tumbling down the world rankings from No. 7 to currently 25th.
“It was bizarre,” Homa said in describing his play. “Kind of just started last off-season. I wasn’t swinging the club well, and I just felt like I was throwing mud at the wall all year and could not find anything that would stick.”
In an effort to rediscover his mojo, Homa has parted ways with instructor Mark Blackburn. When asked about who he’s working with now, Homa said, “I’ve been solo…. I have a buddy I’ve sent videos to and we’ve chatted about my golf swing. Joe has taken a big role in checking ball positions and distance to the ball and things like that.”
Homa confirmed he made the decision after the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
“It’s just a tough year. Time for a change. It’s unfortunate, I love Mark. He’s basically a part of my family. He’s just been an amazing human being,” Homa said on Wednesday during a media session ahead of the Presidents Cup. “But at times, the communication gets hard. I think everyone in here has gone through that at some point. It’s one of those things, more for me I need a break and sometimes I don’t do a great job of taking ownership of my own golf swing so kind of putting the ball in my court a bit, and you know, trying to figure it out myself. I mean, as much as a coach can be brilliant, a genius like Mark, I know my golf swing better than anybody, and I can see it and feel it. Just trying to take some ownership like that.”
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Homa’s decision continues a growing trend that effectively began with Tiger Woods, to take great ownership of their golf swing. Justin Thomas, Tony Finau and Adam Scott are among other top players who have decided to go solo rather than having a coach who travels to tournaments and works on their swing.
Homa played in the 50-man field BMW Championship and finished T-33 and missed the cut at the Procore Championship two weeks ago.
“I did a bunch of setup changes, and just got to like work through that,” said Homa, who is on the bench Thursday for the four-ball session.
Homa hopes he can turn a new leaf and regain the magic that made him a consistent winner over the last several years and a player who seemed on the verge of a major championship breakthrough.
“Probably spent too much time throwing mud and not enough time trying to figure out how to get the ball in the hole,” he said.
