The one statistic from Max Homa’s final round at the Nedbank Golf Challenge which looks particularly alarming

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Max Homa’s hopes of retaining his Nedbank Golf Challenge title seemed to be all but over within three holes of his final round, with the American making the first of five bogeys on Sunday in Sun City.

Heading into the week, many would have tipped Max Homa to win the Nedbank Golf Challenge for a second year running. Despite his struggles in 2024, Homa was the standout name in the field for the event.

It was an American who emerged victorious, but it was actually Johannes Veerman who won the title on five under par after an eventful final round for overnight leader Aldrich Potgieter. Homa meanwhile, finished in a tie for 14th after posting a three over par round of 75 on Sunday.

How Max Homa performed at the Nedbank Golf Challenge

Homa had started the week well, leading after the opening round. However, he failed to break par in any of his next three rounds to slide down the leaderboard. Unfortunately, Sunday was not his first 75 of the week.

It seemed extremely important that Homa had a decent week in South Africa after such a tough time on the PGA Tour. And there were definitely some promising signs along the way.

However, some of the statistics will be a little worrying, particularly given some of the issues Homa was having after an impressive showing at the Masters earlier in the year.

Homa’s driver lets him down during the final round

Homa’s biggest weakness in 2024 was off the tee, with the 34-year-old 164th on the PGA Tour for strokes gained in that particular area. He really appeared to be struggling with the driver, as he also found himself 154th on tour for driving accuracy.

It actually proved to be a reasonably bright week on the DP World Tour, with Homa seventh for strokes gained off the tee.

However, he may be a little concerned by how his accuracy seemed to desert him during the final round. Over the course of the tournament, he hit 55.36 percent of fairways. But that dropped down to 35.7 percent on Sunday.

In fairness to Homa, he would have been aware from the early stages that he would need to push to bring himself back into contention, particularly with Potgieter seemingly desperate to set up a dramatic finish. But he was still 32nd for driving distance on Sunday, so it was not as if he was looking to leave the rest of the field behind with how far he was hitting the ball.

Ultimately, Homa’s 2025 season is not going to be judged by how he performed at the Nedbank Golf Challenge on the DP World Tour. He was clearly still working on some things within his game; often practicing an exaggerated swing throughout the week.

Hopefully it clicks for Homa at some stage in the near future, but he will be disappointed to not kick on after such a promising start to the tournament.