Streak to Stadium Course: FedEx Cup leaders Jon Rahm, Max Homa red-hot entering Players

Jon Rahm is deeply steeped in life atop the golf world.

Max Homa is just getting used to it.

The two hottest players in professional golf are facing off at this week's Players Championship — and maybe for years to come — at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

Rahm has looked destined for the sport's peak since his amateur days. Homa has kept grinding his way up the ladder despite twice losing his PGA Tour card. They're a study in contrasting routes to the top.

"I had turned pro and played really good and reached the top 10 in the world very, very quickly," Rahm said. "With that came a level of attention that you can't get ready for."

"Confidence is an interesting thing, you know," Homa said. "I think true confidence isn't fleeting, it just stays. Obviously in golf it has ebbs and flows. But I think that if you're looking at The Players and the four majors this year, for myself personally, I see great opportunity and not nearly as much pressure as I think I put on them in the past."

Yet despite their different paths, the similarities are striking.

They're both in the top two in the FedEx Cup standings. They both played college golf in the Pac-12, Homa in Berkeley at Cal and Rahm at Arizona State. They've both found their way to current residences in Arizona, both from towns with seven-letter B names: Homa from Burbank, California, and Rahm from Barrika in the far north of Spain.

They faced off head-to-head in last month's Genesis Invitational at Riviera and it was advantage Rahm, grasping the upper hand by two strokes.

Right now, they're about the distance of the Stadium Course No. 9 ahead of the pack in the FedEx Cup points race. Rahm leads with 2,013 points, Homa is second at 1,630 points and third-place Keegan Bradley is practically a ZIP code behind at 1,077. But for both, the prize this week goes far deeper than just points.

"I think there is a difference between strictly World Ranking points, money and FedEx Cup points and then the legacy that a tournament has," Rahm said. "I mean, winning this event is a big step forward to a Hall-of-Fame career."

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RAHM ON TOP OF WORLD

The 2021 U.S. Open champion has returned to No. 1 in the World Golf Ranking, after the top spot cycled through Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler for a portion of the season.

He not only tops the World Golf Ranking, FedEx Cup and the PGA Tour money list, but he began the Tour season with a buzzsaw stretch of three victories in four events and seven consecutive top-10 results.

That run halted last week with a tie for 39th last week at Bay Hill, but Rahm said he isn't planning to let that week shake up his approach.

"I hit five shots in the water, four of them off the tee, and pretty much all of them were very, very close to being on dry land," he said. "So it would be very easy for me to overthink it and think that something needs to change."

Rahm is at or near the top of a host of PGA Tour statistical categories, including scoring average (first), birdie average (first), greens in regulation (third) and putting strokes gained (seventh).

If he lifts the trophy Sunday night, he would become the third World Golf Ranking No. 1 in the last decade to capture the Players, following Tiger Woods in 2013 and Jason Day in 2016.

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HOMA ON THE MOVE

While Rahm has remained near the sport's peak during the past half-dozen years, Homa is a relative newcomer to the top. But the 32-year-old Californian is hot — red-hot.

He's made the cut in all 10 Tour events he's entered this year, including victories at the Fortinet Championship and the Farmers Insurance Open as well as five top-five finishes.

Homa has particularly excelled in putting average (third on the Tour this year) and scrambling (seventh).

What he doesn't have, though, is a major victory, or even anything close. His top major championship finish to date is a tie for 13th last year at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla.

The key to Homa's rapid rise, he said, is a more relaxed mental game.

"I think before when I came to big events and my struggles in majors is I put so much pressure that, 'OK, this is how I test myself and prove myself and all those things,'" Homa said. "I don't believe that anymore and I think that is what's letting me play great golf."

END TO PONTE VEDRA PAIN?

One more thing in common: Neither has yet lifted the trophy at The Players.

This week marks the third visit for Homa. He missed the cut in 2021 and struggled early in his second trip, but finally put everything together — overcoming what he termed a "tornado" on Saturday — for a final-round 66 and a tie for 13th.

He's optimistic that the Stadium Course provides a prime opportunity for a breakthrough.

"I think it suits me. I'm a good iron player typically, and I think it requires quite a bit of precision," he said. "But it's just a bear. If you're out of position off the tee, you're going to be out of position until you get it in the hole."

For Rahm, Ponte Vedra has become the place of the weekend woes.

In his debut in 2017, Rahm saw his tournament unravel with a third-round meltdown that ended in an 82. In 2019, Rahm began in the final twosome with Tommy Fleetwood, and he was part of a five-way tie for the lead as late as the 13th hole on Sunday. But he collapsed down the stretch, found water on 17 and ended with a 76, five strokes behind Rory McIlroy.

Then, in 2021, Rahm entered the final round in a tie for fifth, but shot 73 to drop off the pace.

"I've had my opportunity and didn't take advantage of it," Rahm said. "So I would love to have it again."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Players Championship 2023: Jon Rahm, Max Homa lead PGA Tour