Renowned broadcaster, podcaster, and golf journalist Shane Bacon coined a now famous expression within the golfing lexicon: a “psycho scorecard,” which is used to describe a player’s round that is, frankly, all over the place.
Max Homa posts “psycho scorecard,” career worst at Farmers Insurance Open over first 9 holes
Max Homa turned in a ridiculous front nine on Torrey Pines’ South Course, one you need to see to believe.
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.
Max Homa’s front nine at Torrey Pines on Wednesday fits that billing.
On the par-4 1st hole, the same hole that gave Tiger Woods some trouble during the 2008 U.S. Open, Homa made a triple bogey seven after finding the fairway off the tee. He pulled his approach shot left into the sand and hammered his third shot over the green and into the right greenside bunker. He left his fourth shot in the trap, hit his fifth shot to eight feet past the hole, and then missed the comebacker.
What a start.
On the next hole, a 396-yard par-4, Homa stuck his approach to about five feet away but missed the short birdie try. A two-putt par on the picturesque par-3 3rd hole followed, but more trouble spilled his way at the challenging par-4 4th.
Homa missed the fairway, leaving his drive in the sand off to the right. He then laid up about 60 yards short of the pin, but made a grave mistake by leaving his third shot in the bunker in front of the green. Homa then got up and down for a bogey.
Like that, Homa sat at 4-over through four holes at one of his favorite tournaments — a tournament he won in 2023 by two shots over Keegan Bradley. But his troubles did not end there.
At the par-4 5th, which measures 455 yards, Homa missed the fairway left and found the bunker off the tee. He then hit his second shot just short of the green, a terrific recovery that gave him a solid chance to save par. Homa hit his third shot to about five feet away but inexplicably three-putted from there to card a double bogey.
Suddenly, Homa found himself in dead last and at 6-over par after spending just an hour on Torrey Pines South. How could this happen so quickly?
Well, luckily for Homa, he redeemed himself somewhat on the par-5 6th hole.
There, Homa holed out for an eagle-three, immediately wiping away the scars of the blunder that happened on the hole before.
A two-putt par from 13 feet followed on the par-4 7th. But Homa then made another short game faux pas on the par-3 8th. He could not get up and down from just in front of the green, surrendering another shot and plummeting back down the leaderboard.
Homa then parred the par-5 9th to post a 5-over 41 for his opening nine holes at Torrey Pines — the worst 9-hole stretch of his PGA Tour career on the South Course.
It’s also the second time he failed to break 40 on Torrey Pines South. Homa made four bogies and five pars en route to a 40 during the second round of the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open. In what was his first start as a professional at Torrey Pines, he consequently missed the cut that week.
Maybe he can right the ship over the final 27 holes this time around before the cut slashes the field in half after Thursday’s second round. Regardless of what happens, though, Homa’s “pyscho scorecard” will live in Torrey Pines lore for quite awhile.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
