From the Fairway- “A lot can go right”
Max Homa came from 5-shots back to win the Farmers Insurance Open last Saturday at Torrey Pines to collect his 6th win on the PGA Tour. A Final round 66 with two clutch birdies on No. 16 and No. 18 sealed the deal for Max. A lot of things stick out to me from Homa’s great play this week, but what jumps out to me most was simply his belief coming down the stretch on the back nine in the final round. With a chaotic leaderboard that had been flipped on its head with just 5 holes remaining, Max didn’t waiver from his game. He played each pressure filled shot with a sense of enjoyment and a belief that good things were going to happen… something that is very easy to say, but wildly difficult to do in a moment like that.
Following a surgical 4-iron to a back left pin on the 230 yard par-3 16th, Max settled in and rolled in a 15 footer for birdie to take a share of the lead at 12 under with Sam Ryder. As I watched Max walk to the 17th tee I could tell that he was extremely comfortable in the moment. He was taking the reins of the tournament. After a solid par on the difficult par-4 17th, Max headed to 18 tee with a 1 shot lead over Keegan Bradely who was ahead of him in the fairway on 18 with birdie or eagle in his sights on the reachable par-5. Max fired his drive right down the middle and was then faced with a huge decision.. lay-up or go for the green. As he waited in the fairway, Keegan made a par and finished at 11 under, 1 shot back from Max. At the time Sam Ryder, who was playing the 17th, was the only other player that could catch Max. Ryder was struggling on No. 17 and would make bogey to drop to 9 under par, however Max had no way of knowing that as he prepared for his second shot on 18.
In the moment and with the information Max had, he believed a birdie on 18 meant he would win the tournament and take away any chance of Ryder catching him. So the decision loomed.. Play conservatively and lay-up and hope that Sam Ryder doesn’t make a birdie or eagle coming in OR go for the green and make a birdie to seal the deal.
Max went for it. Hit a fairway metal to the back part of the green. Then two-putted for birdie to get it to 13 under and put things out of reach. A remarkably bold play, executed to perfection when it mattered most, won Max the tournament. So how did he do it? With a belief. A belief that, “A lot can go right”.
I am a frequent listener of the No Laying Up Podcast and the Sunday following his win, Max made a guest appearance on their Recap pod. As Max was talking through his experience and thought process coming down the stretch on those last few holes at Torrey, the conversation settled around the decision he made to go for the green on 18. Some friendly disagreement came up between Max and the show’s host, Chris Solomon, as Chris pointed out that, “a lot could go wrong” with that play if he didn’t strike it well. However, Max was quick to jump in and share his thought process in that moment in the 18th fairway… one that differed from Chris’ thought process.
“A lot could go right as well”, he explained.
I paused the podcast right there. That is how champions think. Champions think about best case scenarios even in the most challenging and pressure filled situations. They refuse to get caught up in the “what-if’s” and the worst possible outcomes. It’s not that they never have those “what-if’s” racing through their heads or that they never see something going wrong, but instead, it’s that they chose to believe and trust that things will go the way they want them to. Having that type of trust and belief is what takes performance to the top and what turns athletes into champions.
Now if you are wondering how you can develop that “a lot can go right” mentality, here’s the one thing I would share with you. In every situation you find yourself in, especially the challenging ones, ask yourself, “what could go right?”. As simple as that question may seem, as you enhance your ability to point out what could go right, you’re actively developing a mindset that refuses to pay attention to what could go wrong. You’re developing a mindset of a champion.
Flip the script and think like a champion.
I want to give a big shout out to the guys at No Laying Up for their content! There is so much we can learn from these players and NLU does a great job of creating an environment that allows them to share their thoughts and experiences in a captivating and entertaining fashion. Give them a listen!