Max Homa‘s 6-under, bogey-free round on Friday at the Bank of Utah Championship was the kind of play that makes you stop and think: how on earth did he pull that off? Not because of his ability but because of the situation! The Californian could barely walk, yet he stayed in contention, managing his way to the top of the leaderboard (T14). When asked about the physical difficulties he faced on the course, Homa could not help but be compassionate.

The 34-year-old revealed that he was going through considerable pain on the Black Desert Course, caused by an annoying bone spur on the top of his right ankle. But to Homa, that pain was nothing compared to what his wife went through once.

“I’ve had it for a little while. I had planned on getting it taken out when we have a little bit of time off… I don’t know. I kept thinking about how my wife had a horrendous birth with our first son, and she had major, major surgery, and there is just no way I could complain about a hurt ankle while I walked,” Max Homa shared. “Yeah, this is nothing. It’s just more of a pain.”

His wife, Lacey, gave birth to their first son, Cam, in October 2022. Unfortunately, an experience that should have been beautiful was marred by serious complications. As a result, Lacey had to undergo multiple surgeries. She also had to spend a significant amount of time in the ICU and could not meet her son and husband for a while. Just recently, Lacey posted a video on TikTok where she talked about her “birth trauma.” During that time, one person who stood with the couple was Jon Rahm.

When Max Homa and his wife returned, Rahm and his wife, Kelley Cahill, helped them stock up at home so that they would not require anything urgently. In what one may call a coincidence, Rahm and his wife also went through a complicated pregnancy two years later, when they were expecting their third child. Anyway, it is not the first time Homa has opened up about that difficult period.

For him, his wife is a “freaking superhero” for whom he could “never be more proud.” The couple, despite the struggle in the first pregnancy, gave birth to their second son, Austin, in August of this year. So for Homa, the pain that he felt in his ankle at the Bank of Utah Championship was nothing, considering what his wife went through a few years back. But still, Max’s injury was painful in its aspect, and it eventually flared up midway through his second round.

“This place is pretty hard to walk. Walking down just a small hill on 12, like I didn’t feel anything, but as we were walking down the fairway on 12, I could feel it getting swollen. Then, when we were done on 12, it was very, very tender,” he added. “Just not a good golf course to walk. Walking uphill is really hard because I can’t flex it, so that sucked.”

The Black Desert course is built on ancient lava fields and offers dramatic elevation. There are sharp turns, and the uphill sections are most challenging. In fact, the course architect himself, Tom Weiskopf, and Phil Smith struggled during the construction. Tom “fell in some of those places and got bloodied up pretty good,” said Smith once.

If the course with such a design is difficult for physically fit people, one can only imagine the pain Homa would have gone through during his time. He also had to receive on-course medical treatment. KT Tape and anti-inflammatory medication were administered to him during his sixth hole.

Part of the reason Homa continued playing was that he needed to break his winless streak of the last two seasons. The six-time winner’s last victory came during the 2022-23 season. There were good results, like a T5 at the John Deere Classic and two top-20s in the FedExCup Fall.

A little consistency here and there is the reason why, despite being in excruciating pain, Homa refused to withdraw.

Max Homa continues despite multiple withdrawals

As Max Homa limped his way through the vast stretches of the Black Desert Golf Course, a thought crossed his mind. Should he just withdraw? The pain was too much to bear and occasionally flared up due to the tough terrain. Yet, he fought through it.

“I mean, for a moment, only just because if it doesn’t get better, I just couldn’t see myself doing this for two more days. But yeah, probably not. I just can’t. I don’t want to do that,” he answered when asked if WD ever crossed his mind. “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.”

His decision came starkly after multiple players withdrew from the Utah event. One of them was Aldrich Potgieter, who left the course mid-second round. His absence sparked rumors about his alleged desire to move to LIV Golf, but he cleared the air later, citing food poisoning as the main cause.

Another player whose withdrawal came as a surprise was Lanto Griffin. Griffin has been battling with back injuries for years, and that could probably be the reason why he went home without even opening a round. No official reasons were given for his departure.

But for Homa, he is ready to bear all the pain because he trusts his present form.