After career-best major finish, Max Homa has special post-Masters plans

Max Homa may not have had the finish he envisioned at the Masters Sunday, but it doesn’t sound like it will derail his plans for the evening.

Homa was in a four-way tie for the lead at Augusta National as he headed for the back nine of the final round, but Scottie Scheffler’s mid-round surge helped him put the tournament away. Homa was still within shouting distance until the 12th when his tee shot got a brutal bounce off the back edge of the green leading to a double bogey.

“The honest answer is it didn’t feel fair. I hit a really good golf shot, and it didn’t feel fair. I’ve seen far worse just roll back down the hill,” Homa said of the break. “The professional answer is these things happen.”

He finished with a 73 and in a three-way tie for third with Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood. It’s his best career finish in a major after he recorded his first top 10 at the last major, the 2023 Open Championship.

“It’s bittersweet, I guess, because I feel accomplished but I feel like it doesn’t really mean anything in the grand scheme of things,” Homa said. “But I just feel like I learned. I feel like I took a big leap.

“The rhetoric on me, and this is from myself, as well, is I have not performed in these things, and I performed for all four days. I didn’t throw a 65 in there and sneak my way in. I had to sleep on this every single day, this feeling and kind of this monkey on my back.”

Homa won’t have to wait long to get another shot in a major as the PGA Championship is just a month away, but you couldn’t blame him for wanting to get back to work right away. He’s also in next week’s field at the RBC Heritage.

But his work for Hilton Head may have to wait. Homa’s plans for Sunday evening haven’t changed, green jacket or not.

What do you think tomorrow will feel like? He was asked Sunday night.

His answer was classic Max Homa.

“I haven’t drank in a really, really, really long time, but I’ve been planning it for Sunday after the Masters, so probably not great,” he said, before reassuring the reporters around him. “It’ll be alright.”

Never change, Max.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.