This week he gets to play with Tiger Woods for the first time in a major championship at the birthplace of golf
Sports is cool https://t.co/YkouFhPErw
— Jared Smith (@jaredleesmith) July 12, 2022
I could see this scenario playing out both ways for Homa. He could feed off the electricity of being paired with Woods, which could elevate his game to a major championship level. He already enters in fantastic form, off a top 20 finish at the Scottish Open, fifth at The Memorial, and a win at the Wells Fargo back in early May.
On the other hand, the moment could prove to be too big of a distraction to overcome. Prior to this year's PGA Championship, Homa has never finished better than 13th at any major, and has missed the cut 5 times in 10 tries.
In case you needed another reason to take him seriously this week, our golf expert Diane Knox Balas also included Homa in her outright portfolio.
After recent 10/1, 30/1 and 55/1 winners, get golf analyst Diane Knox Balas’ British Open best bets
Rory McIlroy: PGA's “Knight in Shining Armor”
Another golfer on Balas' card this week is Rory McIlroy, who returns to the Old Course for the first time since 2010, when he finished tied for third following up a 63 in the first round with a volatile 80 in the second.
McIlroy was primed to win his first major at St Andrews in 2015 as the defending Open champion and world number one, but an ankle injury kept him out of the tournament, which was eventually won by Zach Johnson.
Statement from The Open (1/3): “We are naturally very disappointed that Rory will be unable to defend his title at St Andrews next week.
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 8, 2015
Flash forward to 2022 where Rory enters in fantastic form. He was a runaway winner at the RBC Canadian Open and has finished no worse than 8th in the three previous majors this season.
But the real narrative surrounding Rory this week is what's taking place off the course, where the four-time major champion continues to be one of the PGA Tour's staunchest defenders in their fight against the rogue LIV Tour.
Rory doubled down on those remarks this week saying “there's no room in the golf world for the LIV Tour” while outwardly rooting against the current LIV players in the field saying it would be bad for the game if they won The Open.
In a long interview today, I asked Rory to clarify some of his LIV comments from earlier this week. Here's what he said …