Max Homa is celebrating like he never has before

CHARLOTTE – Max Homa hounded U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Davis Love III for the better part of the year that he wanted to be on his team. On Friday, he delivered on his captain’s pick by holing two clutch putts to secure a 1-up victory with fellow rookie Billy Horschel in their four-ball match against the Canadian pairing of Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith.

Homa, who captured his fifth PGA Tour title at last week’s Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, was asked to compare winning a team match to winning an individual title and he didn’t hesitate in giving his response.

“A hundred times better,” he said. “This to me is top of the top.”

Making this team was a dream come true for Homa, something he considered to be “unthinkable” just five years ago as his career hit rock bottom. He figures he’s hit somewhere around a million golf balls since then and beyond the inflated balance in his bank account, he pointed to making the U.S. team as a symbol of his success.

Presidents Cup: Saturday morning foursomes matches

“You can like quantify it and you can say, dang, like I made this,” he said last week.

Still, he came to Quail Hollow this week with something to prove. He’s heard the haters and doubters on social media who question whether he would have been selected for the team if Dustin Johnson and other LIV defectors weren’t ineligible for the team. It only serves as fuel.

Homa got his feet wet in Thursday’s foursomes, earning a point alongside Tony Finau for Team USA. He understood exactly how Billy Horschel felt as he made his debut in an atmosphere unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

“There’s so many people, you can feel them on the back of your neck,” Homa said.

The U.S. built a 2-up lead on the front nine despite Homa being shut out of birdies. He contributed his first at the par-5 12^th hole, but the Canadians didn’t go down without a fight. The match was tied on the 17^th hole when Pendrith’s 19-foot birdie putt horseshoed out. The door was open for Homa to win the hole and he poured in his 11-foot putt and pumped his fist in jubilation. Only days earlier, during his pre-competition press conference, he had said, “I don’t know if I’ll ever have the swag and the cool factor to run around on the green like Tiger and do fist bumps. I think about it and never do it and just wave.”

But there he was pumping his fist, lost in the moment and the euphoria of playing for his country and 40,000…