Max Homa may not get his hands on the trophy at The Sentry but he is set to have a memorable tournament nonetheless after unleashing a monster, record drive.
Homa's tee shot on the par-4 525-yard seventh hole at Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course measured an astonishing 477 yards during Saturday’s third round in Hawaii.
It is the longest recorded drive on the Tour in the ShotLink era (since 2003) and the biggest on the PGA Tour since 2002 when Tiger Woods hit one 498 yards on the 18th hole at Kapalua during the third round.
The 15 longest drives of that season were all recorded on that hole during that round, but they were all later excluded from the official records. As a result, Homa bested Davis Love III's 476-yard effort by the barest of margins this week to stand alone at the top of the longest official drives in PGA Tour history.
Homa's drive helped set up a birdie in the third round en-route to a five-under 68 to leave him tied 17th on -15 after earlier rounds of 67 and 69.
His drive is remarkable as he averaged 305 yards off the tee during the 2022-23 season, which ranked 62nd on Tour - 21 yards behind Rory McIlroy's average of 326 yards at the top.
But Homa, who won his first DP World Tour title in South Africa in November, undoubtedly made the most of conditions in Maui where the seventh is a downhill, dogleg right, which played downwind on Saturday.
The Plantation course, which has 400 feet of elevation change, also has a history of staging big drives, and in 2022/2023 the majority of 400+ yards drives on the PGA Tour were hit here.
For it being uphill into the wind with no roll I was pretty proud of this one https://t.co/3UXfT97tFBJanuary 7, 2024
Nevertheless, news of Homa's strike is likely to add fresh impetus to the debate on the merits of the distance the ball travels in professional golf. Last month the R&A and USGA confirmed that testing conditions for golf ball conformation will change, rendering nearly every golf ball in circulation non-conforming from January 2028.
The game’s governing bodies have been hinting at rolling back the ball for years in attempts to reduce the impact that increased hitting distances are having on golf’s long-term sustainability.
Longer hitting at the top of the game meant longer golf courses were necessary - meaning more water, more resources, more equipment, more staff and more money to maintain.
The other aspect behind the testing change was to ensure golf courses were being played in ways they were originally designed and not overpowered by the driver-wedge game plan of the modern pro. Increased costs due to moving bunkers or re-designing greens also played a part in the decision.
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