What’s behind Max Homa’s recent success? His coach has some thoughts

Max Homa has been on an impressive run in recent months. The 31-year-old with three Tour wins on his resume has five top-17 finishes in his last six events. He’s currently ranked 35th in the world, and according to his Tour coach, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Mark Blackburn, when it comes to Homa’s talent, “I don’t think there is a ceiling.”

On this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon, Blackburn and Harmon had a lengthy discussion about Homa’s surge in results, and Blackburn shared a few ideas about why he thinks Homa has been enjoying so much success of late.

“The more [Homa] sees himself having success and he’s comfortable in those environments, he’s going to continue to play well, because his skill set’s so fantastic,” Blackburn said. “He drives it really well, he’s got a fairway finder, he can smash it. He’s been doing some really good stuff with Kolby Wayne, and he’s got his ball speed in the mid-180s now without having to change anything excessively, just with strength.

“And then his iron game is really, really good,” Blackburn continued. “He’s one of those players, when he gets in contention, I think — Max is like funny on Instagram, and on Twitter he’s quite witty. But he’s kind of an introvert. He’s also almost quite stoic. Like, he’s the iceman. When he gets in contention, he’s got the right demeanor. He doesn’t really get flustered. He kind of takes it all on.”

Blackburn said that the fact that Homa managed to work his way through rough patches in his game has been hugely beneficial from a mental perspective.

“[Those struggles] give you a perspective of, hold on a minute, I’ve been down that road before,” Blackburn said. “I know that I’ve got the skill set to overcome a lot. And I think that, for him, is why he does well. Especially on hard golf courses. Max is built for those situations.”

Blackburn said that a major win is a natural next step.

“He’s a top-10 player in the world, no problem,” he said. “I think he can win multiple majors based on his skill set. His good is really, really good. It’s just having your good when it really matters on a Sunday afternoon.”

For more from Blackburn, including how to achieve more distance without getting injured and the difference between teaching and coaching, check out the full interview below.

Golf.com

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.