Max Homa knew something was off for 20 years. As a teenager, he thought his dry, flaky scalp was dandruff, but as he grew older, redness, blotchiness, and scaling skin began to appear on his face and spread into his beard. He kept trying multiple creams and shampoos, but nothing seemed to work. He didn’t know what it was until last year when his wife asked him to visit a dermatologist.

The problem turned out to be seborrheic dermatitis, or seb derm, a chronic skin condition that causes red, flaky, scaly patches on the face, scalp, and skin folds. And for Homa, the hardest part was not the symptoms. It was the embarrassment.

“That was number one. Just a little embarrassing,” he shared with Golf Channel. “I always just wrote it off as dry skin, and if people ever said, ‘You got something on your face,’ it’s like, ‘No, no.’ It’s always hard when someone points out the exact thing you are hoping no one saw.”

Homa’s reluctance to see a doctor isn’t unusual. In fact, more than 10 million Americans live with seborrheic dermatitis or similar conditions, many of whom mistake it for simple dry skin, making it easy to ignore. For a golfer playing in front of hundreds of thousands of fans, the unpredictability carried its own pressure.

“There are like 200,000 people there,” the 35-year-old said. “The last thing I’d want is, like, a big red blotch next to my nose.”

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After his diagnosis last year, Homa began using Zoryve foam, a once-daily, steroid-free prescription treatment by Arcutis Biotherapeutics. The routine took almost no time and slotted in right after brushing his teeth each morning. Now, Homa has partnered with Arcutis in the campaign called Free to Be Me. He wanted to urge people to just get their issues checked out.

Notably, Max Homa is not the only athlete who waited too long. NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. publicly shared a nearly identical experience, describing flaking around his beard and hairline, persistent itching, and irritation before finally receiving a formal diagnosis.

With his skin condition finally under control, Homa has turned his full attention to another persistent struggle: his golf game.

Back on the course, Max Homa eyes a return to form

Max Homa’s struggles have not been limited to his skin. After ranking in the top 5 in the world three years ago, he has since dropped to No. 150, navigating swing changes that created more questions than answers, particularly with his driver pulling him in a different direction than his irons.

The turning point came around May last year, when Homa and coach John Scott Rattan decided to stop and reset. Since then, the erratic driver issues that had plagued him largely disappeared, and the game started feeling manageable again.

Reuniting with coach Mark Blackburn added another layer of structure, using Trackman and 3D data to ensure no step was skipped before moving forward. Homa admits he had been too hard on himself, not accounting for how much was happening around him.

“Now it’s just golf,” he said, “which is nice.”

The results are beginning to reflect that clarity. At the 2026 Cognizant Classic, Homa finished T13, carding a final round of 67, nine under for the tournament. He has not broken through with a high finish yet this season, but by his own admission, it feels close to clicking.