If any PGA Tour pro can laugh at himself, it’s Max Homa, the funniest tour pro on Twitter. And after he sees how this shot during Sunday’s final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational played out, we’re guessing Homa would be the first to point out the humor in just how ridiculous it appeared to viewers at home watching in real time—and to one surely nervous camera operator in the tower.
Homa was playing the par-5 sixth hole at Bay Hill, his approach shot having flowing the green. It left him with a tricky chip, his ball nestled in thick rough. Trying to make something happen, Homa decided to play a flop shot that wound up having some unintended consequences.
Give all the credit in the world to the man in the tower. Our reaction watching the replay a second and third go around was to take cover ASAP. We can only imagine what this guy was thinking in the heat of the moment as this shot rocketed toward him.
“I had a horrendous lie. Didn’t even know if I pitched it left if I could keep it in a decent spot,” Homa told GolfChannel.com after the round. “I figured if it came out bad, it would go in the bunker. Never really thought it was going to grab my club and make me shank it. Hadn’t done that in a while.”
Interestingly, hitting the tower proved to be good fortune for Homa. The ball wound up bouncing off the structure and inside the penalty area but stopped in front of some rocks rather than into the water, which was its certain fate without hitting the tower. Homa was able to play his fifth shot on to the green and made the bogey putt.
“I think [playing partner] Sam Burns said it best, he goes, ‘Tap that thing in and get the heck off this hole,’” said Homa, who went on to shoot a four-over 76 and finished T-24 for the tournament. “I guess it was a bad lie, so that was a bad break, and then a great break off the sideboard. So we’ll call it even.”