DETROIT: Max Homa is one of the most prominent names in this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Max Thomas are also among the top players. They all used the word “frustrating”, however, to describe how they feel about their recent game.
Golf is mental. For Thomas, who described his 81-point score at the U.S. Open as “the lowest” he’d ever felt after missing the cut two weeks earlier, the turning point was a late night text sent by his wife on Wednesday evening before the Travelers Championship.
Thomas said, “I just basically told you to remember why you love the game, why you play it and why you’re there. Just enjoy that and take it all in,” he recalled Wednesday at a press conference held before a tournament. It really hit home.
Thomas explained that he works on his mental game as hard as he does to improve his world-class wedge game.
Thomas said, “I always try to learn something from every tournament.” “I learned a great deal from the U.S. Open after I had a chance to reflect and it had been a long time.” I knew I was playing my best golf in a long time. I’m not talking about two, three, or four years. “I was so excited that I expected to win the golf tournament.
Thomas blamed the poor performance of his U.S. Open week on the fact that he focused too much on the swing mechanics, and not enough on trying to simply get the ball in the hole.
“That got in my way,” he explained. “Last Thursday, I didn’t feel great about my golfing swing at the start of the week, so I said, ‘Screw that, I’m going to just go out here and shoot shots and play’. I will use the practice rounds and the pro-am to work on my mechanical swing, but when I am out there, I need to just play.
Thomas’s game re-emerged after a slow opening round. He shot a third-round score of 62, which was 19 shots better than his LACC score eight days prior. Thomas’s first top-10 since February’s WM Phoenix Open, Thomas finished in T-9. He moved up to No. He is ranked 66th in the FedEx Cup and just outside the top 70 players who qualify for the Playoffs. However, if he doesn’t get his act together he could miss the Tour Championship for the first eight years.
Collin Morikawa has had a slightly better season than most – he is currently ranked No. He is currently ranked 32 in the FedEx Cup, but has not won since the British Open in 2021.
Morikawa stated, “Winning is everything to me.” You’ve got learn how to close.
He was a contender heading into Sunday at the Memorial last month, but he injured his back.
“It was a disaster at Memorial, because I had hurt myself and I sat two behind. “If you’re two back on that course and you make one birdie on the first four, you could be tied for the leader, right?” said he. “So, it’s just about putting myself into contention. I need to play three good days of golf before Sunday in order to be in contention. Recently, I have been a little behind the eight ball after some poor first rounds and trying to get back up in second, third, and fourth rounds. It’s difficult to win tournaments with such a low level of play.”
Morikawa says the biggest difference between his game and his previous winless streak is that he can’t eliminate the left-hand side of the course like he used to when he won two majors, reached world No. 2. He has dropped to number 20. 20.)
When he was at his best and winning, he could swing as hard as a person would like, but the ball never went left.
Max Homa teases The Miz with his first swing during the Area 313 Celebrity Scramble, which took place at Detroit Golf Club in advance of the Rocket Mortgage Classic 2023. (Photo: Audrey Richardson/Detroit Free Press)
Homa should not be too hard on himself for missing the cut for the second time in a row and for having to take the weekend off four times out of seven starts. In 2016-17, he only missed two cuts out of 17 starts. He earned $18,008. Comparatively, he has won twice this year and earned north of $8 million in just 18 starts. He’s No. He’s No.
“I am coming off of two missed cuts, and I guess I usually try to reinvent myself a year or two prior. “But everything feels good, golf is just a mean, nasty game,” said he. “My goals are to keep playing golf like I do, to make it feel as if I am at home, to enjoy myself and to wait for golf love me a bit again.”
The frustration that comes with not meeting expectations is a major mental obstacle for many players. Homa has taken it all in his stride, and laughed at the idea that he is in a mini-slump.
He said, “I wouldn’t quite call this slump.” “My last round was a bogey free round. In my actual slump, I had a number of birdie-free sessions, so I believe I am doing fine.”
Thomas chose to see the glass half-full as he tries to get out of his tough patch.
He said, “I am just a few events away from being there.” “And many things can happen.” We’ll find out where this game takes us.
It wouldn’t surprise anyone if all three of these engines start to fire again in the Motor City.
