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Max Homa Falters on Rough Day for Cal at the PGA Championship

Originally posted on Cal Bears on SI | By Jeff Faraudo | Last updated May 17, 2025 8:05 PM ET

After an encouraging second round at the 107th PGA Championship the day before, Saturday essentially dashed Max Homa’s hopes of chasing his first title at a golf major.

On the heels of a 7-under 64 that vaulted him to a tie for fifth place on Friday, the 34-year-old Cal grad included a double-bogey and four bogeys in a round of 5-over 76 that dropped him to a tie for 36th place at even par.

Homa will begin play Sunday 11 strokes behind world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. The two played together Saturday, but Scheffler sprinted out of view with a 6-under 65.

Things went no better for any of three other Cal golfers in the field:

— World No. 4 Collin Morikawa is tied for 57th place at plus-3 after a 3-over 74 that included a double bogey on the 18th hole for the third day in a row.

— Michael Kim had four bogeys in a span of six holes and wound up with a 75 that leaves him tied for 63rd place at plus-5.

— Byeong Hun An labored through a gruesome day, folding nine bogeys and a double bogey in an 8-over 79 that dropped him to 72nd place, second-to-last in the field.

Yes, it was an altogether ugly day on the golf course for the quartet of Bears, who combined to shoot 20 over par with 22 bogeys, three double bogeys and only eight birdies.

Scheffler has a three-stroke lead over Alex Noren, who carded a 66 to climb to second place at 8 under. Davis Riley and J.T. Boston share third place at minus-7 and second-round leader Jhonattan Vegas is tied for fifth at 6 under after a 73.

The start of play Saturday was delayed by more than three hours due to heavy rains. The course dried nicely but golfers had to deal with winds throughout the day.

Homa, whose world ranking has sunk from No. 5 barely a year ago to No. 78, had a breakthrough Friday with a 64 that was his best-ever round at a major.

But he tumbled down the leaderboard after scoring a 40 on the back nine that included a double bogey on the 11th hole.

Morikawa, 28, began play on the back nine and was even for the day when he ran into trouble, again, on the 18th. His third double bogey left him six over par on just that one hole; otherwise he has played 3 under through 54 holes.

Kim, who played the first two days one over par, managed just one birdie against five bogeys on Saturday.

No one had it worse than An, whose three birdies were overwhelmed by a tidal wave of nine holes where he shot a combined 11 over par.

While Scheffler ascended with a round that included seven birdies and an eagle, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy and No. 3 Xander Schauffele are tied for 49th place at plus-2 after each posted third-round scores of 72.

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This article first appeared on Cal Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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