Max Homa has credited his caddie with deciding to take a tactical penalty drop on the final hole of his Ryder Cup singles match after discussing how he dramatically beat Matt Fitzpatrick.
Homa was one of the few Americans to emerged from Marco Simone with his reputation enhanced after taking 3.5 points as their leading scorer in the 16.5-11.5 defeat.
But his prospects of beating Fitzpatrick were fading when his second shot to the 546-yard par 5 18th lodged in thick rough on the edge of a bunker after missing the green to the right.
But after considering his appalling lie with caddie Joe Greiner and a rules official, Homa, who was one up in the match, took a penalty drop in the rough behind the bunker in a much better lie. From there the American was able to float a chip on to the green which ran six foot past the hole to leave a par putt, which would have handed Europe the Ryder Cup there and then had he missed.
He duly holed it after Fitzpatrick had failed to make his 18-foot birdie effort to win another point for Team USA.
Homa ,32, admitted: “Oh, it wasn’t me, it was all Joe. Joe Greiner is the brains. I just swing it. I don’t know how it didn’t get into the bunker. It was an awful break and I was frustrated. My head was spinning. He said: ‘we’re going to take an unplayable here, chip it down to ten feet and you’re going to make it’.”
The canny decision upset some of the home fans who booed when Homa picked the ball up and confused TV viewers and analysts who weren’t sure if it was a penalty drop but the player kept his composure to vindicated his decision which commentators described as: “incredible”.
His point was ultimately in vain as USA failed to regain the Ryder Cup but rookie Homa was still thrilled to have participated in his first clash against Europe. He added: “I’m very thankful to be here.
“It has been a wild week. I told the boys who have played on this before – since I have not – I said: ‘please don’t take this for granted because this is the most fun I’ve just ever had on a golf course’.
“I just had so much fun with my team. I love these boys so much. So you just want to do your best and give the team the best chance they’ve got.”
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