Signs of Stress: Max Homa Parts with Caddie, Who Was Childhood Friend

Max Homa was one of golf’s rising stars. Going back to 2020, Homa quickly became a household name when he separated himself from his colleagues by being active on social media and roasting amateur golfers’ swings.

The Sandlot dog would have loved u https://t.co/iFkdHf9cMo

— max homa (@Maxhoma) October 16, 2020

But Homa wasn’t just entertaining people. Indeed, Homa’s quality of play trended with his increasing popularity.

The record, however, skipped a beat earlier this year when Homa decided to pivot to a new coach (John Scott Rattan), in addition to new brand and apparel partnerships with Cobra and Lululemon. Since then, Homa’s play has trended just the opposite way he was hoping—Homa has missed four cuts in his last four events (Waste Management, Genesis Invitational, API and PLAYERS), in addition to withdrawing and failing to crack the top 20 in the prior three events (T26 at Sentry, WD from Farmers Insurance and T53 at AT&T Pebble Beach). During this time, Homa has slipped from 41 to 75 in the OWGR Rankings.

It seems some of these struggles have led Homa to shake even more things up. Earlier today (and before his first round at the Valero Texas Open), Homa announced that he would be separating from tenured caddie—and childhood friend—Joe Greiner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Max Homa (@max.homa)

Greiner and Homa have been friends since they were 6 years old, with—perhaps most noteworthy—Greiner being inside the ropes for all six of Homa’s professional wins.

In the hopes of kick-starting something before the Masters, Homa has decided to partner with Bill Harke, a veteran caddie who has worked previously for Chris Kirk and Colt Knost, among others.

As of writing this, Homa is plus 4 after 9, which puts him at T137 in the Valero (current leader is Keith Mitchell, who’s in the clubhouse at eight under). Hopefully, Homa can (quickly) find a rhythm and put himself in a position to compete this weekend.

Cover Image via Caddie Network