Big-hitting Max Homa rewrites PGA Tour record books

Max Homa isn’t one of the shorter hitters by any means. 

The six-time PGA Tour winner trailed Rory McIlroy by 21 yards in the driving distance stats last season, but still averaged 305 yards to rank a very respectable 62nd in the standings.

Despite his slender frame in comparison to many of his burly competitors, Homa sends it out there with remarkable ease with his reliable and dynamic swing.

But even Homa cannot have expected to break an official PGA Tour distance record with one swish of the driver.

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Yet during his first start of the 2024 season at The Sentry in Hawaii, Homa recorded the longest drive on the PGA Tour since the ShotLink era began in 2003, with a 477-yard effort in his third round.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was a lot going for Homa in this mammoth record-breaker.

The Plantation Course at Kapalua is known for its elevation changes and the seventh is certainly no different. The downhill par-4 played downwind on Saturday and Homa took full advantage.

On Twitter, he later joked: “For it being uphill into the wind with no roll I was pretty proud of this one.”

Homa needed just a flick of a wedge into the 525-yard hole and made the most of his unprecedented strike with a birdie.

For it being uphill into the wind with no roll I was pretty proud of this one https://t.co/3UXfT97tFB

— max homa (@Maxhoma) January 7, 2024

The venue at Kapalua has long been known as a bombers paradise, with around three quarters of last year’s 400+ yard drives on the PGA Tour struck there.

And this week in what was the first Signature Event of the season, the 59-strong field produced the lowest tournament scoring average (66.67) since PGA Tour records began.

Homa was in a group of players who finished on a cumulative 22-under for his four rounds, but that total was only enough for a share of 14th, seven shots behind the champion Chris Kirk.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.