Easy? No. Satisfying? No doubt. That was how Max Homa had to feel after pulling out a playoff victory on Sunday at the Genesis Invitational.
With a par on the second extra hole, the 30-year-old California native from nearby Valencia claimed his second career PGA Tour title against the deepest field of any tournament thus far in 2021, on a difficult Riviera Country Club.
Homa reached the playoff after shooting a closing 66 in the final round. He then outlasted Tony Finau, who shot a final-round 64 as he, too, was trying to grab his second career tour title. More notably, Finau was looking to end a well-documented five-year winless drought dating back to the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. Since then, Finau has posted 36 top-10 finishes and 20 top-fives but no titles.
Homa also passed Sam Burns, the leader after each of the first three rounds who held a three-shot advantage at the turn on Sunday but finished one shot out of the playoff after posting a two-under 69.
A former NCAA champion at Cal-Berkeley, Homa had a chance to win in regulation, as he had a putt inside four feet for birdie on the 18th hole only to see it lip out. He then made an impressive par on the first extra hole, the par-4 10th, after his ball was nestled next to a tree off the tee. Homa somehow hooded a wedge on to the green, and two-putted to stay alive.
On the second extra hole, the par-3 14th, Homa hit the ball to 10 feet and missed the birdie putt. But Finau, who’s tee shot found the left bunker, couldn’t make his par-saving putt.
An emotional Homa described Riviera as his favourite course in the world and the Genesis as the tournament that helped inspire him to play golf.
Suffice it to say, there was plenty at stake on Sunday. Given the elevated status of the event, Homa earned 550 FedEx Cup points rather than the typical 500 and grabs a three-year exemption on tour instead of the usual two. And the purse, well it was “elevated,” too. The overall prizemoney payout for the week is $US9.3 million with the winner earning $1.675 million. That’s a pretty handsome payday when you consider Homa’s career earnings before the win was $4,691,542.
MORE: The clubs Max Homa used to win at Riviera
Here are the prizemoney payouts for each golfer who made the cut this week at Riviera:
[All figures in US dollars]
Win: Max Homa, 272/-12, $1,674,000
P-2: Tony Finau, 272/-12, $1,013,700
3: Sam Burns, 273/-11, $641,700
4: Cameron Smith, 275/-9, $455,700
T-5: Matthew Fitzpatrick, 277/-7, $344,100
T-5: Viktor Hovland, 277/-7, $344,100
T-5: Jon Rahm, 277/-7, $344,100
T-8: Wyndham Clark, 278/-6, $262,725
T-8: Dustin Johnson, 278/-6, $262,725
T-8: Matt Jones, 278/-6, $262,725
T-8: Francesco Molinari, 278/-6, $262,725
T-12: Talor Gooch, 279/-5, $197,625
T-12: Alex Noren, 279/-5, $197,625
T-12: Patrick Rodgers, 279/-5, $197,625
T-15: Patrick Cantlay, 280/-4, $151,125
T-15: James Hahn, 280/-4, $151,125
T-15: Xander Schauffele, 280/-4, $151,125
T-15: Jordan Spieth, 280/-4, $151,125
T-15: Will Zalatoris, 280/-4, $151,125
T-20: Rickie Fowler, 281/-3, $101,835
T-20: Branden Grace, 281/-3, $101,835
T-20: Matthew NeSmith, 281/-3, $101,835
T-20: C.T. Pan, 281/-3, $101,835
T-20: Scottie Scheffler, 281/-3, $101,835
T-20: Nick Taylor, 281/-3, $101,835
T-26: Jim Furyk, 282/-2, $67,890
T-26: Lanto Griffin, 282/-2, $67,890
T-26: Adam Hadwin, 282/-2, $67,890
T-26: Scott Harrington, 282/-2, $67,890
T-26: Andrew Landry, 282/-2, $67,890
T-26: Cameron Tringale, 282/-2, $67,890
T-32: Bo Hoag, 283/-1, $51,925
T-32: Mackenzie Hughes, 283/-1, $51,925
T-32: Jason Kokrak, 283/-1, $51,925
T-32: Marc Leishman, 283/-1, $51,925
T-32: Andrew Putnam, 283/-1, $51,925
T-32: Kyle Stanley, 283/-1, $51,925
T-38: Tyler Duncan, 284/E, $40,455
T-38: Russell Henley, 284/E, $40,455
T-38: Brooks Koepka, 284/E, $40,455
T-38: Kevin Na, 284/E, $40,455
T-38: Adam Scott, 284/E, $40,455
T-43: Wesley Bryan, 285/+1, $28,179
T-43: Cameron Davis, 285/+1, $28,179
T-43: Brian Harman, 285/+1, $28,179
T-43: Collin Morikawa, 285/+1, $28,179
T-43: Sebastián Muñoz, 285/+1, $28,179
T-43: Joaquin Niemann, 285/+1, $28,179
T-43: J.T. Poston, 285/+1, $28,179
T-43: Brendan Steele, 285/+1, $28,179
T-43: Sepp Straka, 285/+1, $28,179
T-52: Charley Hoffman, 286/+2, $22,152.60
T-52: Tom Hoge, 286/+2, $22,152.60
T-52: Danny Lee, 286/+2, $22,152.60
T-52: Tyler McCumber, 286/+2, $22,152.60
T-52: Kevin Streelman, 286/+2, $22,152.60
T-57: J.B. Holmes, 287/+3, $21,297
T-57: Nate Lashley, 287/+3, $21,297
T-57: Richy Werenski, 287/+3, $21,297
T-60: Keegan Bradley, 288/+4, $20,832
T-60: Brian Gay, 288/+4, $20,832
T–62: Charl Schwartzel, 289/+5, $20,460
T-62: Harold Varner III, 289/+5, $20,460
T-64: Scott Piercy, 290/+6, $20,088
T-64: Matthew Wolff, 290/+6, $20,088
66: Kyoung-Hoon Lee, 293/+9, $19,809
67: Sung Kang, 294/+10, $19,623
