Max Homa comes back from 5 and wins Farmers Open by 2 shots

SAN DIEGO — Max Homa did what his beloved Los Angeles Dodgers couldn’t do in October — win in San Diego.

The LA native came five shots down the lead to win Saturday’s Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines by two shots over Keegan Bradley, where Jon Rahm imploded early and missed an attempt to win his third straight start and move up to 1st place. 1 in the world.

Homa caught up to Sam Ryder, who was looking for a straight win, and then held off Bradley and Collin Morikawa for his sixth PGA Tour win and fourth in his home state. He won the Genesis on the Riviera in 2021 and won the Fortinet Championship in Nampa in consecutive years.

Homa finished with a 6-under 66 and finished with 13-under 275. He made a 4-foot birdie putt on No. 18 and pumped his right fist before greeting wife Lacey and young son Cam just off the green .

Homa was born in Burbank and lives in Valencia north of LA. He played collegially at Cal. He’s a fan of the Lakers and Dodgers, who lost to the Padres in the NL Division Series, with the clincher coming in San Diego. Homa said he heard a lot of gossip from Padres fans this week but didn’t respond, although he said his caddy, Joe Greiner, did.

“It’s nice to win the state of California up and down and have the LA logo on my head and in my heart, me and Joe,” Homa said. “I don’t talk to anyone in the crowd about the Dodgers-Padres thing, but Joe does. That’s why I enjoy listening to him telling them rubbish.”

While many people know Homa as perhaps the funniest tour guy on Twitter, “I’m a hell of a golfer,” he said. “The results will help you lay that foundation. I mean, I like saying stupid things and making stupid jokes and watching weird things and tweeting about them. You know, kid, I guess.

“But when I’m working, when I’m training and playing tournaments, that’s what I love. I love what today was. It was amazing. So I don’t think much has changed there. Trust is becoming more stable.”

Bradley also hit a 66 on the South Course. Morikawa shot 69 and finished with 10 under. Ryder shot 75, his worst round of the week, and tied for fourth with Sahith Theegala (70) and Sungjae Im (70) at 9 under.

Rahm hit a 74, his worst round of the week, and tied for seventh place with Jason Day (68), a two-time Farmers winner, with 8. Rahm clinched his first PGA Tour win here in 2017 and then won the US Open in 2021 on the urban course overlooking the Pacific. Rahm won The American Express at PGA West last weekend and the Sentry Tournament of Champions three weekends ago in Kapalua.

Homa, who played ahead of Ryder, Rahm and Tony Finau in the group, took the lead at 12 under by rolling a 16-foot birdie putt on a par-3 16 from a 226-yard tee shot. Ryder, wearing magenta joggers, had a double-bogey 6 on the 15th to drop to 10 under.

Homa underplayed the front nine in 4 and drove the ball well enough to stay out of trouble, allowing his iron game to shine.

“You don’t have to be in the short grass all the time, but you have to be in it to make birdies,” Homa said. “My iron game has always been my staple, I think what I’m most proud of in my game and this golf course lends itself to it.”

Ryder, who had hit his first hole of the tournament, was tied in first place after the opening round in a three-way and held the sole lead after the second and third rounds. At 33, he’s still looking for his first tour win.

“Yes, there was definitely a lot of new pressure, but it was fun,” Ryder said. “I tried to just enjoy it. As you know it has been a good experience for me and I think it will only feed me.”

After Rahm had an impressive run up the leaderboard on Friday to claim second alone, two shots behind Ryder, Rahm bogeyed No. 1 and missed a yardie putt by inches at No. 4 before his round on par -4 broke apart #5.

Rahm drove into a fairway bunker and then flew the green into the dense rough. It took him three shots to fight his way out of the rough, and sinking a 9-foot putt had him down in fifth place.

“I got a lot of failures today,” said Rahm. “One thing I can guarantee you, if you’re in the fairway, you won’t get bad breaks. We just have to play better.”

DIVOTS: San Diegan Phil Mickelson, a LIV Tour defector, took a shot at Ryder’s pants as he tweeted, “Tour doesn’t allow shorts but does this week’s leader allow joggers with ankle socks?” Shows 4 inch ankles? I’m not a fashion guy, never will be, but there are some things I’ll never understand.”