Max Homa says it’s been ‘really fun’ to see how much one area of his game has now improved

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In the weeks leading up to the Presidents Cup, it really did appear that the most controversial decision Jim Furyk made was to pick Max Homa for the US team ahead of Royal Montreal.

Max Homa had already proved that he is one of the fiercest competitors in the American side, with a flawless record at the 2022 Presidents Cup, while only Rory McIlroy won more points than Homa at the Ryder Cup the following year.

So it says everything about his form in recent months that Homa’s selection for Royal Montreal seemed so contentious. The 33-year-old had not finished in the top 20 at any PGA Tour event since the Wells Fargo Championship back in May.

Homa had been particularly poor off the tee. So it was extremely surprising that both of his appearances over the first three days at the Presidents Cup came in the foursomes. While he only won one point from his three matches, Homa arguably surpassed expectations.

Max Homa pleased with how one part of his game has improved

And actually, there is one part of Homa’s game which appears to be moving in the right direction. While he is not in the top 100 on the PGA Tour for total strokes gained, strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained putting, and strokes gained tee to green; he is 27th for strokes gained around the greens this season.

And speaking in a video for Titleist, Homa shared why he thinks he has improved so much over the last couple of years.

“So chipping’s my favourite thing to do at home practice-wise, it’s fun, it’s creative. Ever since college, we used to have a really cool short game facility, all of us just used to do contests against each other all the time. So it’s like my favourite thing to do,” he said.

“Never was a great chipper. I had some good stats, bunkers was always alright, good out of the rough, never off the fairway. So I fixed some technique stuff in the last couple of years, especially the backend of last year and really found it. But yeah, it’s been really fun to see that number because it’s just something I really enjoy doing and I work a lot, so it felt good.”

The next few months look particularly crucial for the 33-year-old

There is clearly a lot of work for Homa to do over the coming months. He will have been particularly disappointed to not make it to The Tour Championship, while he was unable to build on that tied third finish at The Masters.

Few of the bigger names are likely to feature prominently over the final weeks of the year. So there is a good opportunity for Homa to work intently on his game over the winter ahead of the 2025 season.

There is some uncertainty. Homa split with his coach ahead of the Presidents Cup, so he needs to work out which path he is going to go down moving forward.

But there is definitely reason for cautious optimism for Homa heading into next season.