Pre-tournament hype fades as Max Homa hunkers down with opening 68

LOS ANGELES – Pundits and fans throughout the golf world felt Max Homa had a distinct advantage this week at Los Angeles Country Club; as holder of the course record and an LA native, he has experience around this track not many others can match.

All that talk? Overstated white noise to Homa.

“If it were something like we played a normal Tour event and we had maybe a day to get ready, it would probably be a bit more of an advantage,” Homa said. “But the majors, we get so much time and people are so diligent about it… The advantage I have is that I’m very, very comfortable in this city, and I’m with friends and family and it just is a short trip and all that.”

Full-field scores from U.S. Open

Homa avoided big mistakes and felt the hometown love right from the start of his 2-under 68 Thursday.

His group, which also included LA-native Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler, featured the largest gallery during the morning wave. A massive following amassed on the sixth green when Homa’s group arrived, and he rewarded the crowd with a delicate birdie after laying up down the left side of the fairway. Unfortunately, he gave that shot back with a bogey on the long par-3 seventh.

Homa is happy with his start at LACC despite dealing with all the pre-tournament hype and some noted Thursday struggles. He’s six shots off the lead, and his course record is still intact, although Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele certainly gave him a scare with their 62s.

“I think that they have the old cliche that you can’t win it the first day, but you could lose it, and I lose a lot of these things on the first day,” he said. “It’s nice to just do good out there and treat it like a round of golf and not put too much on it.”