AVONDALE, La. The Los Angeles Dodgers baseball shirt and the nickname that they gave it on the back do not begin to describe the love fest between Max Homa (32), and Collin Morikawa (26), this week at Zurich Classic.
It’s not quite the same as Bennifer but it’s a good fit. Think of the oysters and cocktail sauce served at the Acme Oyster House in New Orleans or Drago’s. Former Cal Bears Homa and Morikawa, both ranked No. It pairs former Cal Bears – Homa, ranked No. They are all members of the mutual admiration society.
They both remember their first meeting in 2016, when they played a nine hole practice round. They recounted the details, as if it were their first date.
“The first time Max met me, he didn’t care at all about me. “I was just a fat little kid, walking around on a sponsor invite just because I won the Trans Miss last year,” Morikawa said about the time he participated in the Korn Ferry Tour Wichita Open tournament as an amateur. He nearly won the event. “It was Max, me and Brandon Hagy, a Cal player. I think I spoke to Brandon for almost the whole time and Max kind of let me go.
It’s strange, everyone thinks Max has this charismatic personality. He was a shy guy when I first met him seven years ago. He was in a bubble. I wasn’t in his group of friends yet, even back then. You got to get used to him and, as we met in college, etc., when he visited, it was obvious that the friendship had been great.
Twitter is the king. My partner in this year’s , @Zurich_Classic, is the king. What do you think @maxhoma23? pic.twitter.com/Lz8JojFO2H
Collin Morikawa 30 March 2023 HTML0
“Anyone out here could blow your mind a whole day the first time you watch someone play golf. “You never know,” Homa explained. “But the first time we played I thought, wow, this guy is really good at hitting shots. As someone trying to progress in golf and get their card, I’d be lying if I didn’t feel a little jealous of a 20-year old kid who dominated me over a period of a week. It’s just the way of life. It was motivating for me to be better than a twenty-year-old at 26.”
Morikawa was also impressed by the fact that Homa volunteered as an assistant coach for Cal during his time there.
“You don’t do that when you are fighting for your card in the PGA Tour, or you are grinding on the Korn Ferry,” noted Morikawa.
Homa wanted to pay it forward, after receiving assistance from Peter Tomasulo, a Cal player who had made the PGA Tour before him. Homa watched the Bears play in the Southern Highlands Collegiate during an off-week and saw Morikawa’s gifts up close.
“I watched him, and he struck the ball so beautifully. Homa remembered that after the practice, all the players went to the driving range. I was sitting there, watching everyone, and talking to Eric Mina who was Collin’s coach and my teammate. I said, “Man, this kid’s already a top-20 striker of the ball in the world, and he’s only in college,” Homa said. “I told Collin that I didn’t say this because I thought I was better than him, but I had just played a bit more golf. I don’t think anyone can beat you if you learn to have a world-class game. And he did. He worked hard.”
Homa was notified by Walter Chun (Cal’s men’s coach) that the usual Morikawa tee to green stripe performance had been thrown off.
Homa admitted, “I almost fell.” “But his short-game kept him in the game and he won an amateur golf tournament.” I was impressed by the fact that a child who has already had the world at his fingertips went home to work on something.
The two became fast friends, but it didn’t stop Homa from being a bit snobby when Morikawa asked him if he would like to join him in this year’s only two-man event during the FedEx Cup Regular Season.
“He kind of gave me the I’ll-get-back-to-you-later type of thing,” Morikawa said.
Homa has already won twice in this season. He now has six Tour victories, which is one more than Morikawa, who counts two majors to his credit but was unable to tie Homa before this tournament.
Homa stated, “Playing with Collin, a two-time major winner, is an easy task for me.”
Homa, when reminded of his description of Morikawa’s golf game as “robot-golf,” replied: “Yeah. I say it every single time I see him hit a ball.”
Morikawa stated, “There is way too much praise for my game.”
Start the HomaKawa Lovefest!
This week, Morikawa assured, “there will be much praise from his side as well.”
