famous broadcaster, podcaster, Golf journalist Shane Bacon He coined the now famous expression in the golf lexicon, the “psycho scorecard.” Frankly, it is used to describe a player's round.
Max Homa's front nine at Torrey Pines on Wednesday fit that description.
Homa hit the par-4 first hole, the same hole that Tiger Woods struggled with at the 2008 U.S. Open. triple bogey 7 After finding the fairway from the tee. He hit his approach shot into the sand on the left and his third shot over the green and into the greenside bunker on the right. He left his fourth shot in the trap and hit his fifth 8 feet beyond the hole, but missed the comeback car.
What a great start.
On the next hole, a 396-yard par 4, Homa hung on his approach about five feet out, but missed a short birdie attempt. He made a two-putt par on the picturesque par-3 third hole, but ran into more trouble on the difficult par-4 fourth.
Homa missed the fairway, leaving his drive in the sand on the right side. He then made a layup about 60 yards in front of the pin, but made a serious mistake by putting his third shot into a bunker in front of the green. After that, Homa went back and forth and suffered a bogey.
As such, Homa finished 4-over after four holes in one of his favorite tournaments, one he won by two strokes over Keegan Bradley in 2023. But his troubles didn't end there.
On the 455-yard par-4 fifth, Homa missed the left fairway and landed in the bunker off the tee. He then hit his second shot short of the green, giving him a solid chance to save par with a nice recovery. Homa hit his third shot about 5 feet out, but then made an inexplicable three-putt for double bogey.
After just an hour at Torrey Pines South, Homa suddenly found himself in last place at 6 over par. How could this happen so quickly?
Well, fortunately for Homa, he was able to salvage some on the par-5 sixth hole.
There are Homa holed out with an Eagle three.immediately wipes away the scars of the previous blunder in the hall.
On the next par-4, No. 7, he made a two-putt par from 13 feet. However, Homa made another mistake with his short game on the par-3 8th hole. He couldn't get up from the front of the green, gave up his next shot, and plummeted off the leaderboard.
Homa then parred the par-5 ninth and shot a 5-over 41 in his first nine holes at Torrey Pines. This was the worst nine holes of his PGA Tour career on the South Course.
This is the second time Torrey Pines South has failed to score 40 points. In the second round of the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open, Homa had four bogeys and five pars en route to a 40. It was his first professional start at Torrey Pines, but he ended up sitting out that week.
Perhaps he can right the ship this time with the final 27 holes before the cut cuts the field in half after Thursday's second round. But no matter what happens, Homa's “Psycho Scorecard” will live on in Torrey Pines lore for some time.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.