82 PGA Tour wins. 15 major victories. Imagine the kind of golfing advice someone like Tiger Woods would be able to give you. Invaluable! That is exactly how Max Homa felt when he got help from the legend. However, if the golfer was at the receiving end of it before a certain point in time, then the 48-year-old would have ‘killed him’ while helping him out. What changed, then? Well, it all happened after Charlie Woods entered the picture, interestingly so.
Homa was talking about how he received Woods’s advice in an episode of the Join The Lobby podcast, hosted by FaZe Clan’s Swagg and Matcrackz. While doing so, he pointed out how the Hall of Famer had helped him with some advice before highlighting how being a father and a mentor to Charlie Woods changed him for the better.
“I’ve actually gotten pretty close with him for his standards,” divulged the pro. “I played my first round with him two, three years ago… started playing a bunch of practice rounds this year together at the majors.” Homa then disclosed how “open,” yet “real serious” Tiger Woods was while helping him with the game in one such practice round. He then recounted an instance with the 15-time major champ, “Last time I was up doing the thing with him, he’s like ‘Hey, you know, I had struggled in the majors… this year, I’d never been in the mix of one,’ and he was like, ‘I have some thoughts on like… what you should be doing.’”
Max Homa sure was surprised, for he said the same while pointing out how being a father changed Tiger Woods. “I was like taken aback,…” continued the pro as he alluded to how the legend was before and after Charlie Woods. “So, I think at this stage of his life, he’s got a son who’s like in high school and he’s going to be a great golfer and I think he’s starting to see like the big brother role whereas I heard back in the day, you know,… he would just kill you, like that’s all he did.”
Interestingly, Joe LaCava, the golfer’s ex-caddie, would attest to this. Back in an interview, the looper had once mentioned the reason behind his cold personality; “He’s got to have that guard up because he doesn’t know who hе can trust and who hе can’t as he said, ‘I mean, who can you trust? Who do you not trust?“
That is quite the story, to be frank. Especially since Woods has been spotted many times with his son Charlie, all the while helping him out with his game. Maybe mentoring a talented, albeit young (emphasize teenage) golfer for the past couple of years helped tone down his ruthless nature. So much so that Homa even went ahead to say, “He’s definitely been really cool with us and like, very, very helpful.” And it seems this help might be what pushed Homa to clinch a career-best finish at the first major of the season.
The ‘Tiger Woods’ effect on Max Homa
The year saw Augusta National crown Scottie Scheffler as its champion. But just below him, at the 3rd spot, was none other than Max Homa with a score of 4-under par overall. Over the four days of play, he put up figures of 67-71-73-73 to finish T3, while tied with Tommy Fleetwood and Collin Morikawa. What’s more, he even got to tee off with his idol, Tiger Woods, on the first two days of the major championship.
That’s not all. The 6-time PGA Tour champ has also managed to help out the Hall of Famer many times over the year. In the interview, the California native divulged how close he had gotten with Woods before highlighting the many charity events that he helped him out with (remember the recent Tiger Woods Invitational clinic that he and Gary Woodland hosted?).
Anyhow, who would have ever thought that the 6-year-old kid watching the legend clinch his first major victory in 1997 on TV would be able to play with him, and form a friendship with him?! Talk about Max Homa being a successful fanboy!
