Max Homa has two days to salvage his season after falling to last place at the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Friday when he had five bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey in the final 10 holes.
Homa is ranked 17th in the world and is 18 strokes behind second-round leader Denny McCarthy in the first leg of the three-week FedEx Cup playoffs at TPC Southwind in Memphis.
Homa came to Memphis 35th in the FedEx Cup standings, and only the top 50 in that ranking advance to next week’s BMW Championships in Denver. And perhaps his status at this point isn’t all or nothing: According to PGAtour.com’s updated FedEx Cup standings forecast on Friday night, Homa has dropped six spots to 41st, which would still qualify him for next week.
His colleague Collin Morikawa, who began the week in fourth place in the FedEx Cup rankings, also had a tough Friday. The 33-year-old finished the first nine holes with a score of 38 strokes over par and never recovered.
Finally, he managed birdies on holes 14 and 15 and finished the day with a 71. This puts him in joint 42nd place, 12 strokes behind.
Things went a little better for 32-year-old South Korean Byeong Hun An, who spent a year at Cal. An was ranked 12th in the FedEx Cup standings at the start of the week, shot an even-par 70 and remains tied for 42nd at 1 under par.
Denny McCarthy and Hideki Matsuyama share the second-round lead at minus 11 strokes. McCarthy made nine birdies en route to a 7-under-par 63, and Matsuyama made seven birdies in his round of 64.
Sam Burns also scored an eagle in his front nine score of 29 and is one stroke behind in third place after a 63.
World number one Scottie Scheffler, who holds a large lead in the FedEx Cup standings, shot 65 to sit alone in fourth place at 9 under par, just two strokes behind McCarty and Matsuyama.
First-round leader Chris Kirk followed his 64 with a 70 and slipped nine places to tied 10th at minus 6.
The 33-year-old Homa started Friday in a solid position, finishing tied for 28th after a 1-under 69 in the first round. He made a birdie on the fourth hole and was 2 under par for the tournament when things started to fall apart with his double bogey on the ninth hole. On the back nine, Homa had either a bogey or a triple bogey on six of nine holes (on the par-4 13th).
For Homa, who has won six PGA Tour events, it was the second time this season he shot a 78. The first came in late May in the opening round of the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth. He rebounded in the second round to shoot a 69 but failed to make the cut.
There is no cut this weekend, but if Homa doesn’t get his luck right, he risks being eliminated from the playoffs.
