AUGUSTA, Ga. — A year ago, in the minutes after Max Homa’s final round at the 2024 Masters, he admitted just how much satisfaction he felt in the result. He hadn’t won, but he had just wound up T3, by far the best finish of his major championship career.
“I feel accomplished,” he said. “I feel like it doesn’t really mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but I just feel like I learned. I feel like I took a big leap.”
Homa figured it was a sign of good things ahead.
“I actually think it’ll put me at ease a little bit for the majors to come,” he added. He was inside the top 10 in the world — and trending up.
That suddenly feels very long ago.
“Pretty much since this week last year, didn’t hit it well for a long time,” Homa said on Tuesday. “Felt like I was running in circles.”
Just about everything has changed in the 12 months since.
Homa split with his longtime coach, Mark Blackburn; after a stint without a coach he’s now working with John Scott Rattan. But he has nothing but good things to say about his ex-coach.
“Mark Blackburn is I think one of the smartest people I’ve ever spoken to and an amazing coach, but it just felt like — I mean, it was just time, which sucks,” he said. “It’s not like, something you want to do.”
Homa changed clothing sponsors. Golf clubs, too. Again, he insists, he changed in the pursuit of something better.
“The club stuff — I had actually always been interested in Cobra. Contract was up, so tested it and the stuff was really good. Have never changed something to not get better,” he said. “Everything’s been just because I want to just get better.”
The biggest challenge, Homa said, has been baking in swing changes. He isn’t second-guessing the changes he’s working on, necessarily. But still…
“I just wish I could catch on a little bit quicker,” he said. “You don’t want to flounder and so that’s why I made all these changes. It’s not just to make changes. I know some people, like, say golfers like to blame things and then get rid of that it’s not their fault. It wasn’t that. It’s just, I’m trying to look to get better and reach my potential.”
Then there was last week’s change: Homa’s split with longtime caddie Joe Greiner. The split, Homa explained, didn’t come from him.
“I mean, it was not my choice, so it sucked,” Homa said. “But he always had a deal that we’re friends first and friendship mattered more than the work thing, and he was wise enough to do what he did.
“It’s hard. I’m just so used to him caddying. And even just on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays, you just have this easy rhythm.
“But I was happy that he did it, because I would rather, at the end of my days, that we continue to be great friends than one of us resent the other for how hard this game can be on a relationship.
“So it sucks because I just pictured always walking fairways with Joe. But again, that was not the deal. I would rather walk life with Joe forever than this dumb game. So it’s been hard to process, but also good in a way, because friendship does matter more than any of this stuff.”
In an interesting twist, Greiner is caddying for Homa’s friend Justin Thomas this week; Thomas’ usual caddie Matt Minister is out with a back injury.
“Rev is resting up so he gets better soon. I’m very lucky Joe Greiner is a great friend and able to help me out last minute,” Thomas wrote on Instagram.
As for Homa? He said he has plenty of reason for optimism.
“It’s not like, far off. I’m going good on the range or at home I’m hitting it better than I have ever hit it. I’m shaping shots better than I ever shaped ’em. Do everything, like, great,” he said. “Just hasn’t clicked yet.”
Homa has slipped to World No. 81. He hasn’t cracked the top five in an event since last year’s Masters. He’s missed five cuts in a row and his only four-round tournaments in 2025 have come at no-cut events. He has struggled particularly with his iron play, losing more than a stroke per round to the field in seven consecutive events. Something needs to change — and what better week to start than this?
“I think this course — your memory of the place and how to play shots I think does matter a lot, so it’s cool to have a year like last year,” he said. “This place almost makes you be creative, something that I’ve not been doing a great job of. And now that I know I can play the place, I think it does help a lot.”
They say that the Masters marks the beginning of spring. Homa announced another new beginning on Tuesday: He and his wife Lacey are expecting their second child. It’s a season of change. Homa sees the best times ahead.
