Max Homa on Saturday on the 14th gap at TPC Sawgrass.
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Max Homa himself admitted it was scary.
John Maginnes, who had been close by, referred to as it harmful.
And Sunday, extra people had extra phrases on a second throughout Saturday’s third spherical of the Players Championship that had gone viral. During the sequence, from the proper tough on the 14th gap at TPC Sawgrass, Homa’s fourth shot flew within the path of followers to his proper, struck a tree and ricocheted out to the left.
But telephone cameras had been recording. And the questions got here.
Did Homa hit somebody? One video, shared by a fan close to the tree and circulated extensively, appeared to indicate that. On the clip, Homa’s ball darted virtually straight at the telephone, there was a thud and the telephone panned down. There had been a number of “oohs” within the background.
What did it appear like on PGA Tour Live, although? This week, each grouping was broadcast — and Homa’s shot was proven in actual time and on a replay. The former was shot from behind Homa and barely to his proper, and from that view, Homa hit, there was a faint noise, Homa seemed ahead after which he seemed out to the left, earlier than strolling in that path.
“That hit the tree, kicked left, going to end up in the fairway bunker,” stated Maginnes, a PGA Tour Live on-course reporter.
“Um, that, that was dangerous.”
The PGA Tour Live replay was proven from a digital camera that seemed to be about 50 yards away and within the fairway to Homa’s left. From that view, Homa hit, and it confirmed the ball hanging the tree, together with exhibiting the handfuls of followers lining the world.
Said announcer Brian Katrek on the printed: “Let’s take a closer look, and incredible camera angle. John, you were not kidding. That was …”
Said analyst Matt Every: “It hit the tree.”
Said Katrek: “I mean, I’m not sure about our depth perception, but it did not appear that that was but a couple feet from some spectators’ heads.”
Said Maginnes: “You’re right. Including a commentator’s head.”
Said Katrek: “Wow.”
Later, a fan video shot from immediately behind Homa additionally grew to become extensively shared, and from that view, dozens of followers had been clearly in Homa’s line — and it confirmed how shut his ball got here to hitting somebody. It raised extra questions.
Should Homa have requested followers to maneuver again farther? Should followers stand that shut? Notably, these usually are not new issues in professional golf, however they happen continuously.
After his Sunday spherical at the Players Championship, Homa shared his aspect, by way of an interview with Golf Digest’s Christopher Powers. He stated he ought to’ve requested the gallery to again up. He stated he ‘knifed’ the shot. He referred to as the scene scary.
For readability, right here is the change shared by Powers:
Said Powers: “Max, there’s a video clip, I think, from the 14th hole yesterday. Did you hit a branch? Someone was standing way too close in your line. It looks like you almost hit the guy in the head. Did you hit a branch yesterday on 14?”
Said Homa: “Yeah, the tree, yeah.”
Said Powers: “The tree.”
Said Homa: “Yeah.”
Said Powers: Do you assume folks stand slightly too near you guys typically in conditions like that?
Said Homa: Yeah, largely. I imply, I requested them to again up. They backed up their regular three or 4 steps. And I used to be attempting to go a lot larger than that, however, I imply, at some level, I can solely ask — yesterday, I ought to have most likely requested for them to maneuver extra, however I didn’t assume I used to be going to knife it. But sometimes you ask them to maneuver, it’s like two steps again. I simply assume that [inaudible] thrown warning to the wind at instances with their very own security. Glad I didn’t hit anyone. And yeah, it was scary. I used to be attempting to go considerably larger than that. So it was sadly freaky, however I gave some folks a great story. I heard loads of folks chuckle and [inaudible] they bought that out of it.”
Later Sunday, Homa tweeted this:
“FYI I did not hit anyone in the head on 14 yesterday. It smoked a tree. Really thankful it missed the guy. That would have been devastating. Cool video tho if I do say so myself.”
It additionally drew this exchange, began by a Twitter consumer:
“dude you didn’t even check to see if anyone was ok, you watched where the ball bounced off to instead ugh. Please do better my man please!”
Replied Homa: “This is true. The main reason I didn’t check to see if everyone was ok was because my ball hit the tree and not one of the people. I would however like to apologize to anyone who was emotionally scarred cuz that had to be scary”
