Max Homa played well at the Valero Texas Open on Thursday, shooting a 4-under 68 at TPC San Antonio.
The former California Golden Bear made three birdies in his final four holes to climb onto the leaderboard. The last one is a 39 foot bomb..
But after the round, Homa gave some insight into his thoughts on playing this week as part of his Masters preparation. Homa has not played in the Valero Texas Open since 2019.
“Right after the British Open last year, I decided I was going to play all the way through the weeks leading up to the major,” Homa said.
“It’s easy this year. Most people play Scottish. [Open], I always do that too, so it’s easier that way. His other two are signature events. It’s been a while since I last went, but it’s my favorite course. The city and hotels are great, especially for families, so it was easy to add this and try to change the way I prepare for majors, especially the Masters. ”
Before last year’s British Open at Royal Liverpool, Homa had never finished inside the top 10 at a major tournament. Although he missed the competition at Los Angeles Country Club, he described the tournament as a “home game.” A month earlier at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, he couldn’t break par.
He also tied for 43rd at the 2023 Masters, his best finish in his four appearances at Augusta National.
As such, Homa hopes the Valero Texas Open will bring more success to Georgia.
“When I’m at home, I try to be a perfectionist and have hope that this will carry over into the next week,” Homa said.
“I think this might work better for myself. I’m learning more about my golf game, which shots feel good and which ones don’t. Trying to get everything accurate. It leans towards that rather than towards it.”
Homa ranked sixth in strokes gained approaching the green and had a strong opening round thanks in large part to his iron play.
“I felt like my iron play was really good. It continued that way, but I didn’t really hit the fairway too much, so I don’t know, but I felt like I really hit the ball.” ” Homa added.
“When the wind blows, that’s a big thing that sometimes gets overlooked a little bit. When the quality of your hitting is really good, you don’t get disturbed as much by the wind, so I feel like I did a good job of that.”
Homa hit the green on Thursday with his 136-yard third shot on the par-5 18th, making just one bogey. Homa had some trouble rising and falling from sand traps, but otherwise played solid golf.
He was also patient throughout and took advantage of the opportunities given to him at the end. And finishing things off with a long birdie on the ninth hole, the final hole of the day, was just the icing on the cake.
“I really liked the way I played,” Homa added.
“If you had told me I could have made it through the day without them, I would have felt the same way about the day. The quality of the golf was really good.”
Only time will tell if the effort Homa put in this week will pay off at Augusta.
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.
