Golf Channel pundit Rex Hoggard has slammed one of Jim Furyk’s Presidents Cup picks after the rest of Team USA was announced.
Brian Harman, Keegan Bradley, and Tony Finau are just some of the names joining those who automatically qualified for the 12-man team.
Max Homa was also selected despite enduring a torrid end to the 2024 PGA Tour season. In fact, Hoggard has slammed Homa’s inclusion, particularly after what Furyk said at last week’s Tour Championship.
Rex Hoggard details conversation he had with Jim Furyk
- READ MORE: Jim Furyk has made a prediction about Justin Thomas after leaving him out of the Presidents Cup team
Speaking during the latest Golf Channel Podcast, Hoggard revealed that Furyk expects tight fairways and thick rough, two factors which could expose Homa’s poor driving of late.
“I spoke with Jim last week at the Tour Championship about this; he expects the same thing at Royal Montreal [as at the Ryder Cup in Paris],” Hoggard explained. “He said it’s going to be narrow fairways, thick rough. How can you pick Max Homa based on that knowledge? How can you pick Max Homa based on what happened in Paris?
“He talks about the lessons he learned from Paris. Apparently, he didn’t learn the lesson that if you are not driving the ball well to end the season, you are probably not going to find it in the three weeks between the end of the season and when they have to show up at Royal Montreal.”
Hoggard added on Homa’s form: “To put it in context, in Max Homa’s last two events, which would have been the BMW and St Jude, at St Jude, he finished 70th in the field in strokes gained off the tee. There were 70 players in that field. At the BMW he finished 48th in the category, only 48 finishes that event. You get the idea.
“His driving is really, really bad. So the idea that he is going to find the magical elixir between now and the time they go to Montreal, based on what we saw a few years ago in Paris, and we knew that golf course was going to be like, that to me is ridiculous.”
Max Homa has work to do ahead of the Presidents Cup
Homa must improve his driving before the Presidents Cup rolls around at the end of September, for his and Furyk’s sake.
Thomas or Akshay Bhatia would’ve been safer picks, notably the two-time major winner, who has immense experience in these events. Thomas has reacted to his omission and backed Furyk’s decision.
Nevertheless, Furyk has laid his reputation on the line after picking Homa, a player who is desperately out of form and in the team thanks to a fast start to the PGA Tour season, which included an excellent top-five finish at the Masters.
With three weeks until the Presidents Cup starts, Homa would be wise to spend as much time as possible on the range with the big stick in hand.
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