Despite a bogey on the 18th hole early Friday morning, Max Homa had his best round yet at Augusta National.
His 5-under 67 also happens to be the lowest round of his major championship career.
“It helps playing with Tiger,” Homa said. “I’m really looking forward to waking up in the morning and going out to play.”
Homa, Tiger Woods and Jason Day managed to play 13 holes Thursday before play was halted due to darkness. At that point, Homa moved up the standings at 4 under, and he admitted he had “good vibes.”
Things changed completely on Friday morning, with changing conditions and changing wind direction making things even more difficult for the Masters.
But even when he faced adversity on Friday’s opening hole, the par-4 14th, Homa didn’t stop.
After hitting the fairway with his tee shot, Homa misjudged the wind on his approach. He airmailed the green, setting up a difficult third shot on one of the most undulating greens on the golf course.
His chip shot from the side of the regulars landed about 6 feet above the hole, resulting in a terrifying knee knocker that set the tone for the day.
Homa succeeded with the wind in his sails.
“I made a great putt on the first hole of the day, No. 14,” Homa said.
“It’s not that I’m nervous, but I felt like I did a good job of maintaining what I was doing yesterday. So I just teed off, teed up at 3pm and just said I’ll be right back to work.” So, that start really helped.”
Homa made an easy par on the par-5 15th, but then set off early fireworks on the 16th and 17th holes.
On the par-3 16th, Homa hit his tee shot within 10 feet of the flagstick and sank the putt for birdie. Homa relied on his putter throughout, scoring his sixth birdie of the day. He gained more strokes on the green than any other player in the opening round of the 2024 Masters.
But there was more to Homa than just an attention-grabbing putter.
In the next hole, Homa fired yet another dart., his second shot on the par-4 17th hole came within an inch of the cup. This puts him at 6 under, tied for second place with Scotty Scheffler.
On the 18th, Homa hit the fairway again, but he pushed his second shot into the greenside bunker and was unable to get it up or down.
“I think we did a great job of getting what we got,” Homa said.
“For example, I had two great swings on No. 18 that just kind of leaked into the bunker. I wouldn’t change anything about that.”
Now, Homa, Woods and Day will continue Friday’s marathon with a second round at Augusta National. They began play at 10:18 a.m. ET as strong winds continued to harden the course and disrupt the field.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
