Winner's Bag
The clubs Max Homa used to win the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open
Sean M. Haffey
Standing five shots back of Sam Ryder heading into Saturday’s final round at the Farmers Insurance Open, Max Homa was asked what he needed to do to win.
“I think if I play the way I played today and make some putts, I'll be fine,” he said.
Like a 24-footer at the par-3 third for birdie. Or a 12-footer for another birdie at the fifth. Or another 12-footer at the par-3 11th. Or dropping a 15-footer for his third 2 of the day at the par-3 16th after a terrific 4-iron shot that was perhaps the best tee shot of the day on that hole. All of that along with a couple of shorter birdie makes (and a double bogey from Sam Ryder at the 15th hole) allowed Homa to make up the deficit and capture his sixth PGA Tour title—and fourth in California.
Although Homa’s putter is a Scotty Cameron by Titleist Phantom X 5.5 tour prototype mallet that he used to rank ninth in strokes gained/putting, besting the field average by more than four strokes on the greens, it was his iron play that stood out.
Perhaps no shot was more impressive than his tee shot at the 16th, where from 230 yards he launched a high cut with his Titleist T100•S 4-iron with a KBS Tour $-Taper 130X shaft. The T100•S is a strong-lofted players iron model that has a channel in the back of the long irons that aims to improve both the ball speed and launch. That channel effectively serves as a through-slot that allows the face to have a little bit of flex, creating a double dose of height from the slot itself through the increased speed. Both of which came in handy on Homa’s tee shot. For the week Homa ranked first in strokes gained/approach the green, picking up more than eight shots on the field.
Homa uses a split set of irons encompassing four models. In addition to the Titleist T100•S 4-iron, he uses the company’s T100 model for the 5-iron, the muscle-back blade Titleist 620 MB for the 6- through 9-irons and a Titleist Vokey SM9 46-degree pitching wedge—all with KBS Tour $-Taper 130X black steel shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet cord grips.
What Max Homa had in the bag at the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black 65 TX), 10 degrees
3-wood: Titleist TSR3, 16.5 degrees
7-wood: Titleist TSR2, 21 degrees
Irons (4): Titleist T100•S; (5): Titleist T100; (6-9): Titleist 620 MB; (PW): Titleist Vokey SM9
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (50, 56, 60 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist X5.5 Tour Prototype