Max Homa stood on the par-3 12th tee at the Gary Player Country Club in South Africa, sitting at 8-under par for the championship. He had handled the windy conditions well to this point, making three birdies and only one bogey over his first 11 holes. He also held a two-shot lead at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
But he flared his approach to the right of the 12th green, and his ball came to rest in a thick, gnarly lie. A bogey soon followed, but the worst was yet to come.
Four holes later, at the other par-3 on the back nine, the 16th, Homa had a terrible miss off the tee once more. He missed the green by 30 yards to the left this time, partially because of the wind but also because it was a poor swing. Even the best players in the world encounter those from time to time.
Homa then made a mess of things from there. His pitch shot from way left of the green scooted through the putting surface, settling in the rough on the other side. He hit a poor chip for his third shot and missed a five-footer for bogey on the low side to card a double.
The troubles did not stop there, however.
After finding the fairway on the quirky par-4 17th, which features a quasi-peninsula green with water short and all along its left side, Homa plunked his approach off a rock in front of the green. His ball bounced into the penalty area, leaving him to play his fourth shot from in front of the green. Another skimpy chip followed, and Homa failed to get up and down for a bogey-five.
Within minutes, Homa dropped from 8-under back to 3-under for the championship. He now trails Frenchman Julian Guerrier, who won the Andalucía Masters earlier this fall in a nine-hole playoff, by two shots at the midway point.
Homa’s not out of it by any means, but if he wants to defend his title, he has some stuff to clean up over the final 36 holes.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
