Max Homa stood on the par-3 12th tee at Gary Player Country Club in South Africa, at eight under for the championship. He has coped well with the windy conditions so far, recording only three birdies and one bogey in his first 11 holes. He maintained a two-stroke lead in the tournament. Nedbank Golf Challenge.
But he flared his approach to the right of the 12th green, and the ball came to rest in a thick, dangerous lie. Bogeys soon followed, but the worst was yet to come.
Four holes later, on No. 16, another par 3 on the back nine, Homa made another terrible tee shot error. This time it was partly because of the wind, but partly because I had a bad swing, and I missed the green 30 yards to the left. Even the best players in the world find themselves in such situations from time to time.
Homa messed it up from there. The ball he hit from the left edge of the green went through the putting surface and ended up in the rough on the opposite side. He missed a chip shot on his third shot, missing 5 feet on the low side for bogey and a double.
But that wasn't the only problem.
After finding the fairway on the quirky par-4 17th, which features a green that resembles a peninsula with short stretches of water on the left-hand side, Homa dropped his approach onto rocks in front of the green. His ball bounced inside the penalty area, forcing him to hit his fourth shot from the front of the green. More exposed chips followed, and Homa was unable to stand up and hit bogey 5.
Within minutes, Homa had gone from 8 under par to 3 under par and was looking for the win. He won a nine-hole playoff at this fall's Andalusia Masters and is trailing Frenchman Julien Guerrier, who won the tournament, by two strokes at the halfway point.
Homa has never been out of form, but there are some things he needs to clear up over the final 36 holes if he wants to defend his title.
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.
