Max Homa unbothered by PIP finish: ‘I hope they blow it up’

ORLANDO, Fla. – When Zach Johnson was officially named U.S. Ryder Cup captain earlier this week, Max Homa did what he does best: He fired up Twitter.

Homa then immediately began to lobby for a captain’s pick, congratulating the new captain and proceeding to list a few “fun facts” about himself. That petitioning continued Friday afternoon at Bay Hill, where Homa played in the group right behind Johnson. Before the round, Homa showed Johnson his U.S.-themed golf cleats, which were white and featured red and blue spikes.

“I’m just going to keep lobbying,” Homa said. “He told me I’m not going to need a pick, so I’m wasting my breath, but it’s a good Plan B. I have a better chance at that than the PIP.”

Homa revealed Friday that he didn’t even sniff the top 10 in the inaugural Player Impact Program race, as he instead finished “somewhere in the 20s.” 

Full-field scores from the Arnold Palmer Invitational

Homa’s final standing could be shocking to some, especially considering Homa is arguably the most active Tour pro on Twitter and has more than 330,000 followers (over 100,000 more than Jon Rahm). Homa, however, wasn’t surprised.

“I actually kind of had a feeling I was nowhere near it, but you never know,” Homa said. “It’s the most arbitrary ‘contest’ ever. It’s pretty predictable who’s going to get at least the top 8; I guess 9 and 10 are tough.”

Asked if he planned on setting a new goal for this year, Homa was quick to respond.

“Oh no, I don’t care,” he said. “I hope they blow it up at some point, or just hand the money to people. But calling it a contest is kind of – I don’t know what else the average guy like me has to do to [crack the top 10].

“I’d have to win three majors this year to have a chance.”