‘I’m a great putter,’ and Max Homa is proving it at PGA West
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Max Homa converted a 10-footer for par at the 18th hole late Saturday at PGA West to maintain a share of the lead at The American Express and pad his already impressive putting statistics.
Homa is second this week in strokes gained: putting having picked up 5.77 shots on the field on the greens. That’s a dramatic improvement for a player who is 170th on the PGA Tour in the category with a minus-0.906 average this season.
That’s not to say Homa is a bad putter.
“I think I’m a great putter. I kind of realized that around the PGA Championship last year. I had a couple weeks where it wasn’t great,” Homa said. “I also putted it the best in Mexico and there was no ShotLink, so it’s not exactly helping my statistical average.”
The bigger advantage is Homa’s comfort level at PGA West.
“This is exactly like I play at home in Scottsdale. It’s just like TPC Scottsdale, Whisper Rock and Silver Leaf, which are the courses I play,” he said. “It feels comfortable. It’s got the same coloring. It’s got the same types of kind of subtle slopes. Being from California, we’re used to putting on poa annua, so whenever we come here, we figured this was about as easy as it gets.”