MONTREAL — The first tee shot has yet to be struck in the 15th Presidents Cup, and we already know that it will be a different experience from two years ago at Quail Hollow for American Max Homa.

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Homa was arguably the brightest star of that edition, going 4-0 in his first appearance in any team competition for America. And the Californian, who is among the most popular players for either team, could still shine this time. It only takes one “feel” change to produce a positive week.

But it’s also true that Homa enters this competition as the biggest X-factor on the American side, given his second-half struggles in the PGA Tour season. Some on social media howled when U.S. captain Jim Furyk tabbed him as one of his wildcard picks, despite Homa not having posted a top-10 finish since May while in the midst of a frustrating battle with his driver. (And not to ignore that he hasn’t putted great either.)

“Bizarre,” Homa called his season. “I just felt like I was throwing mud at the wall all year and could not find anything that would stick.”

Max Homa says he’s found improvement with his driver after struggling most of the year off the tee.

Ben Jared

Homa, however, insisted on Wednesday in a press conference that he’s feeling good about his progression, even though he missed the cut in Napa two weeks ago, while revealing that he has parted ways with teacher and close friend Mark Blackburn. But whatever Furyk has seen in practice didn’t compel the skipper to start Homa in the alternate-shot play of Thursday’s foursomes, which means the six-time tour winner will join Brian Harman as cheerleaders until Friday morning’s fourball.

When discussing his lineup, Furyk challenged the idea that Homa was benched. “Putting him on the bench is an extremely harsh word,” the captain said. “You’ve got to have two folks that don’t play tomorrow. Max, I have a lot of confidence in his game. I have a lot of confidence in what he brings to our team, not only from a playing standpoint, but in the team room as well. You’re going to see him play a lot of golf this week.”

Still, this is different from the 2022 Presidents Cup, when Homa and Tony Finau opened with a victory in foursomes and won again in the same format on Saturday. Homa combined with Billy Horschel to capture their fourball match on Friday, and in an entertaining singles match on Sunday, Homa beat emerging Internationals star Tom Kim, 1up.

Speaking before the Thursday lineups were announced, Homa said, “I’m playing very well right now. I feel really comfortable.” Though he added that he didn’t want to speak for Furyk as to why he was taken for the team, Homa noted, “I don’t think [current form] is necessarily overrated, but I do think experience in this matters. I’ve proven myself, and I’ve shown in these microscope stages I’ve done quite well and I’m imagining that factoring in a little bit.”

After posting three top-10s in the first five months, including a T-3 in the Masters, the struggle was real for Homa for most of the summer. He lost touch with the driver, and for the season his strokes gained/off the tee plummeted from him ranking 41st in ’23 to 156th this year. The putting drop-off was even worse—from sixth to 107th.

The Homa-Blackburn working relationship was highly successful, with the player emerging as a competitive force after years of middling play. But Homa decided it was time for a change, and he said he’s been on his own since the playoffs’ penultimate event, the BMW Championship, where he was heartened by a 67 in the final round.

“If it weren’t for the weekend of BMW, I would have felt pretty apprehensive about being picked [by Furyk], but I played so much better. … I just made an adjustment Friday night. Called a buddy of mine, and he just gave me some advice after I sent him some swings.

“I went out that Saturday and I was unsure, but changed a bunch of stuff in my setup by morning and missed one fairway for the day, and went out again Sunday and drove it great again. I was like, ‘OK, I’m not as worried about my own game if I were to play the Presidents Cup.’ So that did wonders for my confidence.”

Homa doesn’t sound like he’s going to panic when his play dips.

“Golf is just a frustrating game. I’ve seen the bottom of this game on tour,” he said. “It’s not like new to me, but I’ve always considered myself a grinder. I work my ass off in that aspect. … As I’ve gotten older, I realize it’s a long career and I have a lot more golf in front of me, and it’s just preparing for the future at times, and I know that that stuff will work itself out.”

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com