Whenever a large sporting event descends upon a city or town, its residents usually feel proud about what their hometown has to offer.
Hometown hero Max Homa details the ‘59’ that never was at this U.S. Open course
The Los Angeles native has never won a major, but he feels that his hometown can give him some advantage.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
“It’s special. To have a major in my hometown, 18-ish miles from where I grew up, I think that’s a dream come true,” Homa said Tuesday. “It’s already been fun with the fans out there. On a regular basis, I get people yelling my college if they went there, but getting people yelling my high school is different, so that’s been awesome.”
Homa will have many friends and family on hand to cheer him on. But do not reach out to him for tickets now; he is in the midst of preparing for a major championship.
“If you’re texting me now to try to get a ticket, you probably won’t get a response,” Homa noted. “I tried to plan how to go about it a month or two ago. If I didn’t respond to you this week and you’re somehow watching this, I’m sorry, but it’s a lot.”
Not surprisingly, Homa has played at the Los Angeles Country Club before. He actually holds the course record on the North Course, the site of this year’s U.S. Open. He shot a 9-under par 61 during the 2013 Pac-12 Championships as a California Golden Bear.
“I remember not getting up-and-down from the front bunker on 6 for birdie, and I remember three-putting 8, so I could have shot 59, so that bothers me,” Homa joked Tuesday when discussing his record round.
That’s a special number in PGA history as only 11 players have ever broken 60.
“But I remember I didn’t really make a lot of long putts,” Homa added. “I made a few good-sized mid-range putts, and I just felt like I was putting uphill all day. I did everything great, but I remember putting uphill all day. I birdied 14 through 17, which was awesome.”
He then admitted he “hung on for dear life” during the next three rounds as LACC did not come as easy to him as it did when he shot 61.
Even though that round happened a decade ago, and the course he played then will not mirror the U.S. Open conditions of this week, Homa feels that anyone who has played LACC before has the upper leg.
“I do look at [having experience at LACC] as a bit of a boost,” Homa said. “All the guys who played the Pac-12s here, anybody who played here prior, it’s definitely a bit of an advantage.”
Homa has yet to finish inside the top 10 at a major championship. If he does so at the 2023 U.S. Open, his hometown and local knowledge will prove advantageous.
How much of a shot do you give Homa? Chime in on the comment section below.
