WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 23, 2023

Max Homa

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How did you play compared to yesterday?

MAX HOMA: Played great. I had no bogeys, probably five birdies, something like that. Played really nice.

Q. You play a 72-hole tournament and there's going to be one round typically where you're not as sharp as the other ones. Do you worry about that more in match play?

MAX HOMA: I guess you do because I got a little lucky yesterday looking at all the great play. I guess if I had played Cam Young I would have lost on the 12th hole probably, but I guess that's match play.

At times, too, you have to remember if someone is out of position you might play a little differently than you would in stroke play. I feel we got in a good rhythm and it did feel kind of like a stroke play event just because that's more comfortable for us.

But yeah, I was more proud of yesterday. If it was a stroke play tournament I would have been very proud of yesterday because I turned at under par when it was not very good. Found some footing on the back nine, then today I just played really solidly.

Q. How did you handle the wind?

MAX HOMA: We handled it a lot better than yesterday. Yesterday I felt like we got the distance control wrong a lot more. I thought today we did a really good job being patient. Joe was backing me off, making sure we were committed to the shot before we hit it. Really only got fooled once, and that was something to hold your head high on because it was very gusty.

Q. Did you say it felt like stroke play today?

MAX HOMA: Just in our match just because we weren't making bogeys. It kind of just felt like a round that you're playing. It still obviously is match play, but it just felt like -- yesterday the first hole I'm lagging a bogey putt on 1, and it immediately felt like -- or a par putt down on 1, and it just always felt like somebody was out of position yesterday.

You're then saying, okay, the pin is over here but the green is good, and today we played really well to start, so it just felt like you were trying to make birdies, trying to get going like you would a normal round. It just felt more comfortable.

Q. Did it feel good to beat a guy who's played very well in this event at this golf course?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, it does. Kev is a really great golfer obviously, but he is especially great when he gets in these head-to-head matchups. He came out and was playing awesome so I tried to make sure I kept playing my game because it felt really good.

My goal in these things typically when I'm playing like this is just to keep putting pressure on people not to make mistakes because it felt like today I wasn't going to, and I did a great job of that, and he gave me one on 11 and all of a sudden it felt like a different match.

Anytime you can beat Kevin -- he made this birdie on 14 that kind of is Kevin Kisner. It was not an easy hole. He had a long way in and he makes a very good birdie, and that's when you just kind of have to make sure -- you never really breathe. You're always kind of staying on your toes.

Playing someone like Kev who you know is really test you, it helps because you don't really ever get too far ahead of yourself.

Q. Were you able to tune out the Kisner chatter today?

MAX HOMA: It was very quiet. It got -- we were talking quite a bit. He is a good friend of mine, so it was quite fun to be with him, and his caddie Duey, but once we got to the back nine it got very serious. It was a good match. It was a lot of fun.

Q. As far as match play competitors go, where would you rank Kisner?

MAX HOMA: He's got to be up there just knowing the record. But yeah, it's hard to say. Everybody out here is so darned good that it's hard to say. You play anybody for one day, it's very demanding.

But I think just the way Kev putts and his demeanor, he's so even keeled, and anytime he's on the green you know it's going to at least take a peek. That's something that I find quite concerning when you're playing matches.

He did that, he made a lot of great putts. I was fortunate he had two lip out. And yeah, anybody who can grind and kind of play mistake-free type golf, like Kevin, is always going to be difficult to beat.

Q. Did the wind affect putting very much?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, we had -- it's really just when you get out on to that lake. So the putts on -- I had a weird putt on 12 that that was the first one where I felt like it was really -- had it straight but I played it a little left to right.

It's just a lot of guessing, especially when the greens are really, really slow. We're kind of used to when they're fast you know it's going to blow. When they're slow like that you're a little bit more tentative about whether or not it's going to do it, but it definitely was affecting it once you got out there where it's a little more exposed.

Q. Jordan lost today and Rahm lost yesterday and Scottie has been scuffling a little bit. Does it feel like a wide open tournament this year?

MAX HOMA: Always is. Like I said, every single person that's in this field can beat anybody for a day. Obviously someone like Scottie is very difficult to beat over four days, but I imagine you have a chance if it's just for one day.

But yeah, I think this is always wide open, and then once you get to the sweet 16 it's kind of the hot hands and you can kind of tell who's playing well. Obviously you've had great champions here, so I think it does come down to a consistent week as a great stroke-play event would be, but definitely the beginning feels a little bit uneasy.

Q. Do you remember how mad you were when you got eliminated last year?

MAX HOMA: I was frustrated the second round because I had that match and I had a couple three-putts. It's one thing to get beat, and I just was frustrated that I felt like I didn't put up a great fight on the back nine. Then I had Dustin the next day, and he played awesome. So that was going to always be a tough one.

I fought better against Dustin, at least took him to 18. The year prior I was the most frustrated because I made it to a playoff with Billy and just missed a makeable putt on the first playoff hole and just had a very easy up-and-down the next one and didn't get up-and-down and then he beat me on the third hole. That year I was a lot more frustrated.

It's hard to get real mad at yourself. Like I said, I didn't play great yesterday and win, so if I play great today and lose, it's hard to really grind your teeth. But as long as you're not giving holes away, I'm not really too mad at myself.

Q. Is this about as slow as the greens have been?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, they were -- after the first three holes, Kevin and I were talking about it, I thought they were going to be quite a bit quicker today, but I think tomorrow they'll get some life back in them.