JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 4, 2025

Max Homa

TPC Deere Run

Quick Quotes

Q. Max, you're going to repeat yourself a lot. What was working out there today? You talked about the drive, the swing, getting off the tee well. What did you feel good about today?

MAX HOMA: I thought everything was good. Rolled it well. Hit the irons awesome. Wedged it well. Drove it well.

So I didn't like -- again, similar to yesterday, just nothing sticks out. Just was really good golf kind of through the bag. Yeah, those are my favorite kind of days.

Q. You been looking for this. How good has these first two days felt for you?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, still a bit of a grind, but it's just nice to -- there are certain tee shots that are awkward out here for me. I think everybody has certain ones that just look funky. The golf course isn't super hard, but there is just some shots.

Just having a plan I guess helps a lot, because before it was just hit and hope. It's nice to look up and a lot of time the ball's going somewhat near where I'm looking.

Q. Mentality going good tomorrow? You're one off the lead. Been in these positions a lot of times; you've won. What's your mentality heading into the weekend?

MAX HOMA: I don't think really much changes. I mean, just play the golf course. You're going to have to shoot really low. If you went out there and tried to do something specific, I'm not so sure that is going to work. Somebody can go out there and shoot 11-under out there and jump everybody.

So just go do what we did today and play another round of golf. Just keep waiting until the back nine on Sunday basically.

Q. Was it gratifying to get through the afternoon round still near the top of the lead, particularly since the afternoon seemed to have been particularly hard this week?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, just nice to play good golf. It got really windy. The greens got pretty crusty. It's just nice to keep playing well. Got off to a good start, everything felt nice, and then it continued to feel nice.

It was good to have the 18 holes again like yesterday where nothing really changed. There is some ebb and flow out there with your golf swing or whatever, but for the most part just felt relatively basic from one to 18, so that was nice.

Q. Did you feel like the adjustments you made with your legs on the driving stayed? Does it feel like that's in place now?

MAX HOMA: Well, yeah. I drove it well today. Got off the tee I thought pretty well. It was a lot harder today with the wind, especially the back nine. Couple of those tee shots played pretty tricky as opposed to yesterday when we played with no wind. So it was nice to continue to drive it well, especially on the back nine.

So, yeah, it was definitely -- it helps just because I iron it really well. You know, I'm putting it nice. It's just you want to just keep feeling like you're being the aggressor.

It's nice when you can drive it like that and you can keep -- whether it's a birdie look from close or making routine pars, it's an easy rhythm to get into.

Q. What you said over here about whatever the weekend brings, you feel like you've made a big step.

MAX HOMA: Yeah, I have a plan. This is the -- it's only been two and a half days or so, but it really feels like this is a nice step for me with the long game.

It's definitely the best 36 holes off the tee I've had in a while consecutively, so that's nice. I'm just trying keep getting better every day. I don't particularly worry about what place I'm in on the leaderboard. If I'm up near it on Sunday, that's when you start to think a little bit and game plan.

But for the most part, just try to get out there every day and kind of take what I have and shoot the lowest score I can. So I think I have a little bit more right now and it's a lot more fun to strategize and play with a more complete golf game.

Q. You said Rickie gave your wife rides home from high school?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, they used to live by each other. They've known each other forever. He's in her older brother's yearbook, so it's kind of funny. Small world.

Q. Was the drive on 17 tricky or how did that look to your eye?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, it's definitely awkward. I like to cut the ball and that hole, you know, sets up for a bit of a draw. But what's nice is the way I was swinging it it didn't have a ton of curve of it the last two days, so I'm able to hit a have you small cut, and if I just get some air under it.

It's definitely an uncomfortable tee shot, but I like the way I wedge it, so it feels like a free ball. If I miss the fairway, I layup and get to hit a wedge in there ten feet.

So that's kind of the benefit of some of those holes out here, is it's not a mass amount of penalties on some holes; some you do. A lot look okay to my eye, so that's -- 17 kind of gives you a free swing at it and just tried to hit like kind of a high cut.