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Max Homa soared up the leaderboard at the FedEx St. Jude Championship Saturday, carding a 5-under 65 to move into a tie for fourth with Jordan Spieth.
The former California Golden Bear began the day at 6-under for the tournament and had a pedestrian first eight holes.
Then he birdied the par-4 9th and proceeded to birdie four of his next six holes.
“I felt like I actually played the first eight [holes] awesome,” Homa said after the round. “Nothing wanted to get close, and I couldn’t hole a putt. Wasn’t particularly close with the putts, either.”
“But everything felt good. I figured if I kept doing what I was doing, some of them would go in, so I was proud of the patience, playing smart golf, and picking my spots, which worked out once we got to that 9th hole.”
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A big reason for Homa’s success has been his ability to stripe it off the tee this week. He has hit it beautifully all tournament, ranking second in strokes gained: off the tee through 54 holes.
But he does not like the ‘spicy’ shoutouts he receives whenever he smashes a drive.
“I have never enjoyed the ‘spicy meatball’ call-outs, but I still appreciate that they are rooting for me,” Homa said after the round. “I would say at some point maybe try something a little more clever, but that’s up to them, not me.”
The ‘spicy meatball’ hollers come from Homa’s appearance on Pardon My Take, a popular Barstool Sports podcast.
Big Cat and PFT Commenter, the two hosts of Pardon My Take, joked with Homa, saying fans should yell ‘spicy meatball’ whenever he hits a big drive because of his Italian heritage.
“That is f***ing funny,” Homa responded on the podcast, which was released in April.
Now it is not so funny, as Homa would appreciate other original content thrown his way.
Alas, Homa is not too worried about this. He is more focused on chasing down Lucas Glover, who sits three shots better than him at 14-under par.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
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