Inside Max Homa’s Win at the Genesis Invitational

PGA TOUR | The Genesis Invitational

Max Homa emerged from an all-Titleist Pro V1 playoff with Tony Finau Sunday at Riviera, winning the event he first attended with his father as a 2-year-old, the event that he said was “why I fell in love with golf.”

  • Homa, who grew up about 30 miles away from The Riv in Valencia, Calif., trusted a Pro V1 golf ball and bag full of Titleist equipment, including a NEW TSi3 driver, Vokey SM8 wedges and a NEW Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11.5 Tour Prototype that he put in the bag last week.
  • After closing with a five-birdie, no-bogey 5-under 66 to force the playoff, Homa said “I'm very proud of how I played. I don’t know if I missed too many shots and for that I would think young me coming here as a kid would be very proud.”
  • It was his second PGA TOUR victory.

The Top Choice at Riviera

Titleist was the top choice of players across every major equipment category at The Genesis Invitational – golf balls (80/67%), drivers (35/29%), fairways (55/31%, T-1), utilities (22/49%), hybrids (17/34%), irons (32/27%), wedges (177/52%) and putters (42/35%). 

WHAT’S IN MAX HOMA’S BAG?

Titleist Pro V1 golf ball, TSi3 (9.0°) driver with Alidla Rogue Black 130 TX shaft, TS3 (15.0°) fairway with Alidla Rogue Black 80 TX shaft, TSi2 (21.0°) with Graphite Design Tour AD XC 9 TX shaft, 620 MB (4-9) irons with KBS TOUR S-Taper 130 X shafts, Vokey Design SM8 46.10F, 50.12F, 56.14F, 60.04L wedges with a KBS TOUR S-Taper 130 X shaft on the 46°and KBS Hi Rev 2.0 125 S shafts on the 50°, 56°, 60° wedges, and Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11.5 Tour Prototype

Titleist Pro V1 golf ball
Titleist Pro V1 golf ball1/5
TSi3 (9.0°) driver with Alidla Rogue Black 130 TX...
TSi3 (9.0°) driver with Alidla Rogue Black 130 TX shaft2/5
620 MB (4-9) irons with KBS TOUR $-Taper 130 X...
620 MB (4-9) irons with KBS TOUR $-Taper 130 X shafts3/5
Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11.5 Tour Prototype
Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11.5 Tour Prototype4/5
Vokey Design SM8 46.10F, 50.12F, 56.14F, 60.04L...
Vokey Design SM8 46.10F, 50.12F, 56.14F, 60.04L wedges with a KBS TOUR $-Taper 130 X shaft on the 46°and KBS Hi Rev 2.0 125 S shafts on the 50°, 56°, 60° wedges5/5

TRUSTING TSi EN ROUTE TO VICTORY

Homa was one of 32 players in the field gaming a NEW Titleist TSi driver, more than any other model in play at Riviera, as Titleist continues to be the most played driver this season on the PGA Tour.

  • Homa, who plays a TSi3 9.0° (Alidla Rogue Black 130 TX), finished second in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee.
  • Homa was one of three TSi driver players to finish in the Top 5, in addition to Cameron Smith (TSi3 10.0°, Project X HZRDUS Smoke Yellow 60) as well as the recent winner of the European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship (TSi3 9.0°, Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 TX shaft). 

HOMA FINDS SUCCESS WITH NEW PHANTOM X 11.5

Homa became the first player to win with a NEW Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11.5 after putting the tour prototype in play for the first time last week at Pebble Beach.

  • Homa, who had used his trusty Futura T5W all but two weeks since the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open, finished 9th at Pebble and 7th at Riviera in Strokes Gained: Putting.
  • He was also third this week in Putts Per G.I.R.
  • Earlier this week at Riviera, Homa told Page it was the putter “I’ve kind of been looking for.” 
  • “I work a lot on alignment in my putting and I feel like [the Phantom X 11.5] is very square, it’s a lot easier to line up for me,” Homa said. “I also like a milled face... I feel like I get more feel of where I’m hitting it on the putter face. It’s better feedback for me. It was kind of a no brainer right when I got it – I also wasn’t putting particularly great, so it was kind of perfect timing – it’s easy to aim and the face feels a little bit more like my older blade putters.”

CAMERON SMITH’S NEW SCOTTY

Cameron Smith put a NEW Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11.5 tour prototype in play at The Genesis after testing it for the first time earlier in the week.

  • Scotty Cameron Tour Rep Drew Page had a couple of the new Phantom X models with him on the putting green during Tuesday’s practice round when Smith asked if he could roll a few putts with the 11.5. A few minutes later, Smith asked Page if he could build one up to his specs. “Yeah, I’m going to take this,” he told Page. (Smith finished fourth, three shots out of the playoff.)
  • “The 11.5 was just very stable and swung really nice for him. He felt like he didn’t have to do too much with it – he just had to pull the club back and it did the rest for him,” Page said."

KORN FERRY TOUR | Lecom Suncoast Classic

Hayden Buckley (Pro V1)
Hayden Buckley (Pro V1)1/2
Hayden Buckley (Pro V1)
Hayden Buckley (Pro V1)2/2

Hayden Buckley played a Pro V1 golf ball, NEW TSi3 driver, T100 irons and Vokey Design SM8 wedges to claim his first Korn Ferry title, winning with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff after starting the week as the first alternate.

  • Buckley, playing in his rookie season on the KFT, did not find out he was in the event until approximately 15 minutes before his 7:17 tee time Thursday morning.
  • He hurried to the driving range and hit 10 balls before teeing off – on his way to an opening 3-under 68.
  • Buckley played on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada in 2019 after four years on the golf team at the University of Missouri, where he started as a walk-on and graduated with the program’s lowest scoring average. 

NEW PRO V1 & PRO V1x DEBUT ON KFT

The first event on the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2021 calendar was also the first chance for players to put the NEW 2021 Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls in play, with 47 players immediately switching to the new models.

TSi DRIVERS ARE TOP CHOICE

Titleist was the most played driver at the event with 42 players. Buckley, who averaged 312 yards off the tee, hit 83% of his fairways and had the event’s longest drive at 384 yards, was one of 39 players who teed up a NEW TSi model.

WHAT’S IN HAYDEN BUCKLEY’S BAG?

Titleist Pro V1, TSi3 (9.0°) driver with Diamana CK Pro white 70 TX shaft, TS3 (15.0°, 18.0°) fairways with Diamana CK Pro White 80 TX shafts, T100 (4-PW) irons and Vokey Design SM8 50.07F, WedgeWorks 54.08M, 60.08M wedges with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts (on both his irons and wedges). 

...

#TeamTitleist