Max Homa on Social Media Critics: ‘No Point in Giving That Attention’

Max Homa shares his thoughts after an impressive first round at the 2025 John Deere Classic. He reflects on finding something in his swing, feeding off the energy of his playing partners Rickie Fowler and Jake Knapp, and how staying off social media has helped him focus on what really matters. Plus, Max discusses what makes TPC Deere Run such a scoring-friendly course and how patience will be key the rest of the week.

Max, can you talk about the round and how good it feels to uh to have gotten off this this particular start? Yeah. Uh I just did everything really solid. I made a ton of putts. Uh kept the driver uh in in good spots. I got to take advantage of my iron play, uh my wedge play. So, it just uh it always for me uh this season started from the tea and uh it was plenty good enough today and uh the rest of my game I think got to show how it’s felt the last few months without any good results. So, it just always feels good to get off to a good start when you’re struggling. That’s for sure. Does it feel sustainable? Do you feel like you you I don’t you don’t want to say you’ve got it. Does it feel I mean I don’t see why not, but I’m not I guess worried about it being it’s not really going to be my lasting thought as I leave here today. You know, I played a good run of golf. Every day is different. Um but I do feel like we found a little something with the driver and uh or you know, all the long clubs and it was nice to do that for 18 full holes. I didn’t hit one like crazy shot today, so that was cool. Uh did you feed off your group kind of had it going for a while? Did you feed off Ricky a little bit and vice versa? Um, yeah. I mean, I would think so. I We just like I’m super lucky to have a group like that. I mean, two of my closest buddies out here. Uh, I’ve known Rick forever. I know Jake forever. So, it’s just a fun vibe. You get three SoCal guys in the same group. Uh, everyone just started making a lot of birdies. So, that was fun. Obviously, uh the number is going to be 20 something, so obviously one day doesn’t doesn’t get it done, but did you how’s your approach for the rest of the week? Just keep uh Yeah. Yeah. You just have to keep playing. You know, still patience is very important even when scores are really low. Uh you look at a round like Ricky played today. Uh he had a couple uh blips early and then, you know, found his swing again and he shot a really low number. So, uh, as much as it always feels like a track meet in your head, uh, you look at things like that and, uh, it’s important to kind of stay within yourself, stay patient, cuz you can birdie any hole out here. Was there one thing you worked on on the range that this week that you felt might have been key today? Yeah, just my sequencing’s been off. So, found a little something to hopefully slow down my legs, but uh, yeah, it’s always, uh, it’s just been off all season. So, uh, hopefully this little change is gonna kind of continue to work, but didn’t find it till late last uh yesterday afternoon. So, uh I’m in the early days of it. So, I think I’m in the honeymoon phase for a little while. Max, can you talk about the characteristics of this TPC deer run? You show up at any tournament looking to play like you did today. What What about this place is working for you this time of year, and you read all the stories about how people shoot low, and you probably came in expecting to do so. Yeah. Um, well, the greens are always pretty soft and they’re in amazing shape, so you can make a lot of putts. Uh, but I think in general, um, you have three reachable par five. Well, 10’s not really, but you have two very reachable par fives. You have a lot of holes. If you had a great drive, you’re going to have a wedge in your hand. Uh, I’m quite a good wedge player typically the last, you know, handful of years. So, when you’re putting the ball in the fairway, it just feels like you have a lot of 10-footers. Uh, and, you know, if you’re patient, you’re going to get some 10footers. You just need to eventually get one in a good spot. So yeah, there’s some hard holes out here. It’s just you can play them defensively and then eat up the other ones. So I think that’s what most guys are probably doing today. When you see the kids out here for the autographs and all the fans coming out, you know that we we take good weather for granted out on the PGA tour. They don’t get it too much here and Yeah. except this time of year. Do you get a feel of a vibe here at John Deere that maybe you don’t see elsewhere? Yeah. No, it’s an amazing vibe. There’s a ton of kids out there which is cool. Uh you need to travel with us more though. We don’t get great weather often, so uh we’re very thankful for this as well. So, it’s cool to see the energy out here. Obviously, getting to play with Ricky and Jake. There’s a big crowd, so that was quite fun. Max, it’s your best first round score since the 2023 Genesis Invitational. Did it feel like it? Yeah, I played really well. Um, like I said, I mean, I made a whole lot of putts, but it’s I didn’t still didn’t feel like I did one thing just like that carried me. It felt like everything was really good. Um, kept it in front of me. uh was rarely in a bad spot um whether it’s off the tea or on the green. So, uh obviously having a hot putter helps, but uh even with that one, I felt like I I did a lot to to shoot a low number. So, yeah, it did feel it did feel like a a good opening round. You had a choice word for uh some people on social media yesterday. Uh I’m sure you didn’t see it cuz you’re not on it, but a lot of people took it and ran with it. Is there any sort of motivation there like wanting to stick it to the haters or do you not even think about that? Yeah. No, I think the further I’ve removed myself from like Twitter is you actually stop thinking about it so much. I think that’s kind of what I was getting at yesterday with is draining is it’s probably in the back of your mind and I just would I I just wouldn’t uh I just there’s just no point to give any attention to that because like I said my friends, my family, even a lot of strangers out here or any week on the road are so kind. Uh so it’d be it’s a lot smarter to surround yourself with real people than whatever that is on the internet. Thanks. Did you hear any res anybody? Was there talk about what you said in the locker room on the range? I mean, obviously, um, it quote unquote went viral. Um, so, uh, no, we just, uh, we don’t really talk about much golf stuff, so we just try to live our lives and then go play 18 holes, then go back inside and do it again. So, you said it and then basically under the radar, I guess. Yeah, I did. Yeah, I just talk and I don’t know if uh people listen, but yeah, I I I don’t talk to the guys about all that. Okay, thanks, man.