THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2026

Max Homa

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. Not a lot of pars on the scorecard. How did you keep things on the right side there for a while?

MAX HOMA: I think the front is significantly easier in that wind. You get to play kind of in the tunnels a little bit more. I've been playing really well, so it was very frustrating how erratic it was. But it also made it somewhat easier to know that if you just kept swinging, it would go the right place, but it was one of the weirder days I've ever had.

Q. Holing out on the first hole of the tournament, walk me through that shot.

MAX HOMA: Yeah, it was cool. I hit a good tee shot, a little down off the left. It was 137, so I thought if I drew my gap wedge three or four right of it, it wouldn't go long, and if I hit it good, maybe it would work its way over there. It's just rare that it actually goes in the hole, but it worked itself out perfect.

Q. After sort of the rocky middle part of the round, what was the key to being able to bounce back before four birdies in a row?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, I think just trusting that there were good swings in there. I didn't drive it very well today, but I've been driving it awesome. So was just trying to -- if you summed it up over 14 holes, maybe you could get a couple good ones in. I didn't hit a lot more fairways, but I hit it in better spots and then took advantage of my iron game, so that was nice.

Q. What's the most difficult part on a day like today when there's some highs like when you start holing out for eagle and then follow it up with a couple doubles on the back? How do you stay level headed through the roller coaster of emotions?

MAX HOMA: I don't know. You really have to have conversations with yourself that you've got to start over. Some of the doubles I really didn't do that much wrong. My second double I whiffed a three-footer. That was the painful part. But I didn't hit an awful tee shot, didn't hit an awful second shot, it buries under the lip, did a good job of giving myself three feet for bogey. But it's easier said than done. Pretty upset, and you've just got to remind yourself that it wasn't that far off. This is a very hard golf course, so it's nice to make some good swings and make some good putts to get going in the other direction, but that morning was very tricky.

Q. I know you only played a couple holes in the rain. How much did the golf course change with the rain that came, and how much different is it going to be for the afternoon guys?

MAX HOMA: I doubt the rain did much, but the wind is down, so they're going to have a much more enjoyable day than we did.

Q. I was wondering about the general shift in conditions throughout the tournament week here. Rory said something yesterday about the course playing slightly differently this year than it typically does. I don't know if you felt that way, but I was curious --

MAX HOMA: Yeah, I've never played it in May. This is the firmest I had ever played it. It's not so bad in the mornings. Now I don't think it will be. Maybe by the weekend if it stays windy or if they want to suck some of the water out.

But yeah, it's a bit tricky in the mornings. It's a lot softer. But when we played Tuesday in a bit of -- mostly Tuesday because we played in the afternoon, it was very, very firm, and I've never played this place even remotely like that. It'll probably be more comfortable for us playing the rest of the week because I just don't think it's going to get that firm anymore. But it was fun while it lasted.