Max Homa will cherish fond memories of his first experience of playing with Tiger Woods when he returns to Scotland this summer.
American Homa, who is ranked sixth in the world, has confirmed his place in this summer’s Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in July.
It follows his debut at the event last year, which was won by fellow American Xander Schauffele – who has also committed to returning to the East Lothian venue.
That came a week prior to the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, where he was paired with 15-time major winner Woods for his opening two rounds.
Woods was in the early stages of returning to professional golf, after undergoing extensive back surgery following a car accident.
Although neither player made the cut, Homa has everlasting memories of the fanfare which greeted his round as he took on the Old Course alongside Woods.
Homa said: “It was wild. I wish both of us would have played better, but it was crazy. On the first day I think our round took six hours and 15 minutes. We waited on every hole.
“I was talking to Matt Fitzpatrick and we were just saying how weird of a day it was because I had never played a round longer. But we both agreed that it would have been a lot more frustrating if we weren’t playing with Tiger at St Andrews. It was actually pretty fun.
“He didn’t play great but you could just tell, so much talent is in his hands and it was so impressive.
“The story we usually tell is on 17 on Friday, he couldn’t make the cut, and he had an eight footer for par. To anybody in the world that meant nothing and he called Joe LaCava to help read it and buried it.
“It was just all those stories you hear about grinding and how much he cares about each and every shot. It was really cool to see that up close. He was very friendly to us. It was a really fun couple of days.
“I talk about playing at St Andrews and watching him walk up the last hole on Friday with the hero’s welcome.
“We obviously play to compete and win and it was a bummer of a week for me, but that memory is pretty awesome.
“I’ll tell my kid about that, and anybody who will listen, how fun that was. Every once in a while you get really lucky to be at the right place at the right time. I felt like I was that week.”
American eager to carry on promising start to season
Homa has enjoyed a strong start to the 2023 season, recording a number of top-10 finishes including a victory at the Farmers Insurance Open in January.
With the PGA Championship taking place at Oak Hill next week, the 32-year-old is relishing the busy schedule awaiting him in the coming weeks.
He added: “My game feels really good. I played well last week. I had a bit of a low, my swing got off Masters week, so that was a bit of bad timing. But the season has been great. It’s been a good run of golf.
“I’ve been in contention quite a few times, which is fun, and played well at a few of the big events.
“I have been feeling quite good about my game for a while now. I’m looking forward to kind of keeping that going.
“Obviously for us, this is the big time of year. We just had our first major, we’ve got another one coming up next week and then all the way through the summer.
“I’m excited with how my game feels and how consistent it’s been. And I think that’s kind of what you need. When you look at best chances to win a major, obviously you need to play great and get hot, but it’s easier when you kind of know what you’re working on.”
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