Three holes into his the second round of the Bank of Utah Championship, Max Homa felt the pain.
The six-time PGA Tour winner has a “pretty good-sized” bone spur at the top of his ankle. And it began to swell while walking down the hill on the 12th fairway at Black Desert Resort. By the end of the hole, it was “very, very tender.”
Yet, the injury might have helped Homa.
“In some way like, I mean, yesterday I played so well and I just get in my own way so much,” Homa said after a second-round, bogey-free 66. “It honestly helps to get hurt at times because I don’t remember thinking about my golf swing, I don’t remember thinking about really anything much. Just get it through.”
After 36 holes, the 34-year-old sits at six under par, four strokes off the solo lead of Michael Brennan, a sponsor’s exemption.
“Hopefully, I can get this thing figured out,” Homa said. “Just was like, not very fun walking. Over the ball it’s fine. Through the hit is not great, but it’s manageable.”
Despite an injury, @MaxHoma battles through for a bogey-free 66 @BOUChampionship 💪 pic.twitter.com/GkvAkjrxoT
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 24, 2025
A top 10 player in the world two years ago, Homa has plummeted outside the top 100 in the world ranking. This year, he has one top 10 in 23 starts. Still, he has full status in 2026 due to his past victories, but is trying to finish inside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings because of pride (he’s currently No. 100).
Did withdrawing ever cross his mind?
“For a moment, only just because if it doesn’t get better, I just couldn’t see myself doing this for two more days,” he said. “But, yeah, probably not. I just can’t. I don’t want to do that. I love being here. I really like how my golf game feels.
“It's my last event of the year and it’s just annoying to walk, so I can deal with that.”
And when the pain gets bad, putting it in perspective allows him to push through.
“I kept thinking about my wife had a horrendous birth with our first son and she had major, major surgery,” Homa said, “and there is just no way I could complain about a hurt ankle while I walked. That one really—she gets me through a lot. She couldn’t look at me the same.
“Yeah, this is nothing. It’s just more of a pain.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Injury Helps Max Homa to Bogey-Free Round at Bank of Utah Championship.