Tour
March 10, 2020 - 5:00 am EDT 5 years ago

Homa Shanks Shot Into TV Tower, Salvages Bogey

Chris Chaney Chris Chaney
Homa Shanks Shot Into TV Tower, Salvages Bogey

Max Homa is one of the most entertaining golfers on the PGA Tour. 

You may know the 29-year-old California native for his breakthrough victory at the Wells Fargo Championship last year, but many more people know him for his engaging personality on and off the course, especially on social media.

Gaining more mainstream notoriety in recent months for making fun of amateur golfers’ swings on Twitter despite the fact that Homa has finished inside the top-25 in each of his five PGA Tour starts, including three top-10s, Homa again entered the wider sports fans’ consciousness for the wrong reasons on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.


Following a third-round of 2-under par 70, which was the only round of the day at Bay Hill under par, Homa was on the cusp of contention at 1-over par heading into Sunday’s final round. A pair of early bogies were somewhat offset by a birdie on the par-5 4th hole, but a mishit drive on the par-5 6th hole led to a series of events that you need to see.

After finding the penalty area off the tee, Homa hit his third shot right of the water-guarded green. Catching a nasty lie, Homa’s attempt to get up-and-down for par nearly took out a nearby cameraman — and not one of those that you see walking around with a handheld device; a guy in a tower.

And another angle, from a fan’s perspective.

“I had a horrendous lie,” Homa told GolfChannel.com. “Didn’t even know if I pitched it left if I could keep it in a decent spot. I figured if it came out bad, it would go in the bunker. Never really thought it was going to grab my club and make me shank it. Hadn’t done that in a while.”

Improbably, Homa’s ball stayed dry thanks to a fortuitous bounce off the TV tower and he nearly holed the next chip for par, striking the pin and ending up 18 inches from the cup. 

“I think (playing partner) Sam Burns said it best, he goes, ‘Tap that thing in and get the heck off this hole,’” Homa said. “I guess it was a bad lie, so that was a bad break, and then a great break off the sideboard. So we’ll call it even.”

He explained it further on the podcast he co-hosts with Fox Sports’ Shane Bacon. 

As he’s wont to do, Homa took to social media after the round to have a little fun with his 130,000-plus followers. 

Homa would post a 4-over par 76 in the final round to drop into a tie for 24th place. He’s in the field this week at The Players Championship, and will tee it up alongside Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton in the first two rounds.