Weekly Recap: There's No Place Like Homa

Sam Burns was winning for much of the week, and a Burns win would've been a great, coming-of-age story. Then Tony Finau overtook him late on Sunday. This would've been a fantastic, it's-about-time story. But in the end, it was Max Homa who won the Genesis Invitational at Riviera. And hence we have the proverbial 'Local Boy Makes Good' story.

Homa defeated bridesmaid-yet-again Finau with a par on the second playoff hole for his second career PGA Tour title.

Homa grew up about 30 miles from Pacific Palisades in the Santa Clarita Valley. He said he has attended the various iterations of the Los Angeles Open ever since he was a toddler. And now, at 30, he's won the tournament. Pretty cool.

This may be just what Homa needs to vault into the upper tier of golfers. Because after winning the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship, his career didn't exactly take off. Far from it. But stagnation or regression is not uncommon after a golfer's maiden win. Homa struggled into 2020, especially after the restart in June. When he won at Quail Hollow in May 2019, he was ranked 102nd in the world. Nineteen months later in December 2020, he was still 100th.

But as the calendar flipped to 2021, so too did something with Homa. He finished 21st at The American Express, 18th at the Farmers Insurance Open, 42nd in Phoenix, seventh at Pebble Beach and now a win in this loaded field. He's vaulted all the way up to 38th in the OWGR, which by the way fills his dance card for this week since he now has qualified for the WGC event in Florida.

If you look at Homa's strokes-gained stats for the season, they aren't overly impressive. But at Riviera, they were outstanding: second in SG: Off-the-Tee, 21st in Approach, ninth in Around-the-Green and seventh in Putting. You almost wonder how he even needed a playoff to win (more on just how good Finau was in a moment).

Maybe it was that local-kid familiarity with an LA course, which he surely has played many times. He was even fifth in the tournament last year. He'd been dreaming of this day forever.

"The city of champions -- Dodgers, Lakers, me now," he told Amanda Balionis on TV. "It's a weird feeling."

We know Homa is beloved on Twitter, as he humorously takes down duffers asking for swing critiques. And he does a wildly popular podcast with Shane Bacon.

But, putting himself in the same sentence as the Dodgers and Lakers after winning one golf tournament? Comparing that to a World Series or an NBA title? We get it -- that was probably a spur-of-the-moment comment just seconds after the biggest accomplishment of his career -- but even so, it was a bit much. Let's just say he overcooked it. It's not like kids here in LA are gonna start wearing Max Homa shirts and hats. And last we checked, no Max Homa parade has been scheduled down at City Hall.

All in all, though, it's still a pretty neat story.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Tony Finau
This is just unbelievable. And you have to feel for Finau. The guy who hasn't won in almost five years has now finished second 10 times since then, including his last three tournaments in a row. Finau was second at Torrey Pines, then second in Saudi Arabia, and now this one was the closest call of them all. He shot 64 on Sunday, the best round of the day by two strokes. He ranked second in the field in SG: Putting in the final round. If Finau can't win when putting like that, when exactly can he win? Yes, he did miss not one but two makeable putts in the playoff. For the season, Finau is now ranked 82nd in SG: Putting. He's really getting better at it. The rest of his game is elite. It has to pay off soon for him, right? Right?

Sam Burns
The weight of carrying the lead for four long days finally became too great. Saturday was such a long day for Burns that it didn't end till early Sunday morning. He has been playing so well; this solo third was his second top-10 and fourth top-25 in his past six starts. Burns is ranked top-20 in both SG: Off-the-Tee and Putting, 30th in SG: Approach. Those numbers are more than good enough to win. He's finally broken into the top 100 of of the OWGR, at No. 80. But there really is something to be said about trying to hold a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour, much less go wire to wire: 

Cameron Smith
Smith was a lot like Homa and other first-time winners: He took a step back after winning the 2020 Sony Open in January. And then his struggles continued after the restart in June and he fell out of the top 50 of the OWGR -- we may have to look back at 2020 in the years to come with a pandemic-asterisk for many players. Now, in his past six starts, Smith has a runner-up at the Masters and two other top-5s, including a solo fourth at Riviera. He's again back in the 20s at No. 27, just off his best of 24th. When his game is on, he can compete with anyone.

Jon Rahm
Rahm never contended but closed with a 66 to quietly tie for fifth, his fifth top-5 in his past six starts. His one miss was a tie for 13th. He's there every week.

Viktor Hovland
Like Rahm, Hovland came from far back on Sunday to tie for fifth, his fifth top-5 in six starts. He too is becoming automatic.

Matthew Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick was in the mix after a great Saturday but couldn't get anything going on Sunday and was relegated to a tie for fifth. He's now a career-best 16th in the world and recently won the season-ending European Tour event in Dubai, but he remains winless on the PGA Tour. Sunday was one of his best chances to get that win. A very disappointing day for him.

Dustin Johnson
He had a terrible-for-him Sunday and "plummeted" all the way to a tie for eighth. Everyone should have such good off-weeks.

Francesco Molinari
Did Molinari tie for eighth because he's now a Riviera member and has become much more familiar with the course? Or because he's finally now getting back into form after a lost 2020? Probably both. The result moved him back inside the top 100 of the OWGR to 85th.

Wyndham Clark
Clark had a very good stretch from the fall of 2019 into the early part of 2020, with a tie for 17th at Riviera included. Now he's followed that up with a tie for eighth this year.  After Riviera last year, Clark tied for 11th at the Honda, so he had a good thing going. Then golf stopped and his good fortunes did not continue with the restart. At his best, Clark drives and putts very well – naturally, that's a great combination to have. But of late, the putting stroke had disappeared. At Riviera, Clark was T13 in SG: Putting, so that's a great sign for him.

Talor Gooch, James Hahn
Gooch tied for 12th and former champ Hahn tied for 15th. They really are horses for the course. Gooch was top-10 last year and Hahn has had many high finishes.

Jordan Spieth
Following twin 68s, Spieth couldn't keep it going on the weekend and tied for 15th. Still, another very good week, three in a row. It wasn't enough to get him inside the top 50 of the OWGR -- he moved up only one spot to 61st -- so he'll be missing this week's WGC event. You can only be so back if you can't qualify for the biggest events.

Rickie Fowler
Fowler also didn't qualify for the WGC – he's ranked 65th. But he closed with a 67 to end up tied for 20th, which certainly is encouraging for him. Unlike Spieth, Fowler has yet to qualify for the Masters, so there is some real urgency for him.

Matthew Wolff
Since his twin runners-up at the U.S. Open and Shriners in the early fall, Wolf has now gone 73-T50-MC-T40-WD-T36 and finally a T64 at Riviera. Wolff withdrew from Torrey Pines with a wrist injury, but there's no indication it is contributing to this slide.

Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau
It was a strong field, but this surely was a stunner to see three top-10 guys miss the cut, especially when more than half the 120-man field made it to the weekend. Thomas and DeChambeau have been a bit off their games for differing reason, but this was McIlroy's first missed cut since the 2019 Open Championship. All three are guaranteed four rounds this week at the WGC event in Florida.

Doc Redman
Since opening the season with a pair of top-5s in his first four events, Redman has gone sideways. His missed cut at the Genesis was his fourth in five events. He's only 23 and this is just his second year on Tour. Regression is not an uncommon occurrence in a sophomore season.

Gary Woodland
Woodland is another guy in a real funk – and he says he's over the back issues that plagued him last year. The Riviera missed cut was his fourth in his past six events. He's nearing a fall from the top 50 of the OWGR. He's now 44th, whereas he was 12th after winning the 2019 U.S. Open.

Hideki Matsuyama
We like to refer to Matsuyama as a top-25 machine, one who can't get many top-10s because of his putting woes. Lately, not even the top-25s have been a regular thing. Matsuyama missed the Genesis cut – he doesn't miss many cuts – and it was his fourth start in the past five without so much as a top-40 finish. Matsuyama's struggles could easily end this week, but they certainly bear watching.