Play all golf tournaments at the Riviera Country Club. This is the result of Sunday’s exciting end and the two-hole playoff between Max Homa and Tony Finau, which Homa ended up winning in what is easily the most significant victory of the year. Homa called it his Masters after the round, and it certainly gave the feeling of a great championship most of Sunday’s day.
The day started early with the leader of the first, second and third rounds Sam Burns (as well as several other players) ending a suspended third round at dawn. Burns took a healthy two-shot lead over Dustin Johnson, Homa and Matthew Fitzpatrick for the final on a track that was fast, steady and kicking players from everywhere.
After a 31st lead, Burns looked ready for the first PGA Tour victory of his career. But he melted a little on his way home with a 38 on his back and opened the door to a field that was just beyond it. Homa and Finau entered.
Homa, who only dreamed Playing in this tournament as a child, he hit 66 to reach the playoff with Finau, but ended up in disaster. After hitting the opening shot at hole 72, just behind Finau, fixing the 64 of the day’s round, Homa hit the shot he always imagined to hit: a 40-inch reduction to win the best field of 2021.
Then he dropped the shot.
It was as painful as golf can be, but somehow it was about to get worse. In the first hole of the playoff, Homa hit his kick to the left and he nestled beside a tree. His only chance was to cover a wedge and try to hook something in front of the lawn. He somehow did and made a 4 – just like Finau. It was the second consecutive day of miraculous photos for Max in 10, which was to be renamed Homa Hole.
Homa paired in the second hole of the playoff as well, and a bogey Finau led to victory in the. 2 in Homa’s career. The range of emotions, from the iron hardened in 18 to the shot put, to the obstacle in number 10, to victory looked like a roller coaster Jordan Spiethian. It was more surprising that he was standing at the end of everything than the fact that he won.
But the postscript was somehow better than the performance. After the lawn was cleared and Homa approached the microphone, he collapsed immediately. How could he not? When you care as much as Homa and win in a place like this the way he did, the words are petty.
“I have been watching this tournament my whole life,” he said. “It is the reason why I fell in love with golf.”
I hope you watch this whole Homa clip. That’s why this is the most significant 2021 victory so far. We (rightly) highly value the four major championships. But they are not the only golf tournaments that matter, and Homa is evidence of why this is true.
The location is important, and for Homa there is no better place than Riv. The presence is important, and for Homa to recover as he did after the # 18 gaffe was really impressive. People are important, and for Homa to win the tournament his family took him as a child is monumental. And the purpose is important. For Homa, this is taking the next step as a genuinely fantastic player on the PGA Tour by winning a tournament that looked like a big one on TV and certainly looked like one to him. Note: A +
Jon Rahm (T5): I don’t think I even saw Rahm until the end of Sunday, and suddenly he was shooting at 66 and finishing T5. The cream almost always goes up, and Rahm finished fourth in this field, from tee to green. Riviera has a knack for making the best of the best players and Rahm was one of the best this week, despite not having a putter. Grade A-
Dustin Johnson (T8): It was a tough Sunday for DJs after he hit 72 points in the final group on a day when the average score dropped to 60 years. He didn’t make it since the jump, however, since he destroyed the first (an easy bird hole) and never really got involved. His end came at number 10, when he broke a tree, made 5 and fell behind the leaders. Another quite easy top 10 for him, however. Note: B +
Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy (MC): They were a total of 17 and the three missed the weekend. Once again, major championship-like courses tend to reveal who is playing great golf, and none of these three have been successful this week. Tiger Woods appeared on the broadcast on Sunday night and talked about the importance of angles on the Riviera, and the combined 4 strokes that these three missed from the tee to the green suggest that they did not play them well. In addition, the three played horribly, which did not help. There is no long-term concern here – Thomas missed two of the three cuts to start 2020 and still won and McIlroy hasn’t missed a cut in almost two years – but for a week in Los Angeles, they all played as badly as they could possibly play. Grade: F