LA JOLLA, Calif. - Max Homa added his candor and insight to the CBS broadcast of the Farmers Insurance Open in the third round Friday, agreeing to be mic'd up while he played the par-5 13th hole at Torrey Pines South. He was 7 under, five behind leader Sam Ryder and coming off a lip-out bogey at the difficult, par-4 12th hole, when he was mic'd up to add a new dimension of understanding for fans at home. "We're introducing a new initiative," CBS's Jim Nantz said. "We want to thank Max Homa. We've given him an earpiece, and we're going to be able to watch and listen and even speak to Max as he plays this par-5 13th hole." Homa launched a 315-yard drive down the right side of the fairway when CBS's new lead golf analyst Trevor Immelman interviewed him about strategy at the lengthy par 5, which backs up to the cliffs. "I primarily cut it off the tee, so this one is a little awkward," Homa said, jokingly adding that his caddie, Joe Greiner, and coach, Mark Blackburn, limit the number of draws he's allowed. Ian Baker-Finch then asked him what he faced for his second shot, which at the 13th hole must bisect the fairway as it pitches steeply downhill before climbing uphill again to the green. "This is a brutal second shot," Homa said as he walked to his ball. "You can kind of fan one and have a blind, 40-yard shot uphill." Once he was at the ball, he added: "We've got 275 front, 283 hole, which makes it a perfect number to go at it. I do need to hit it solid." As his playing partners hit the subject turned to what he thinks about on the course, and Homa allowed that his mind can drift to what he's going to do after the round with his young son. "I do try to lock in for the last minute or so (before hitting)," he said. "...This one will be a good, high cut and hopefully it takes two hopes before going into the hole and we can all go crazy." Once of the most popular voices on golf Twitter, Homa, 32, is a five-time PGA TOUR winner whose most recent victory, at the season-opening Fortinet Championship in Napa last fall, has him at fourth in the FedExCup. He was his usual pithy self as he played Torrey South. His second shot, from the middle of the fairway, was headed for the green but came up short. "I didn't hit it solid, as I told you, and I decided to whiff it," he said. "You decided to be as far away from (CBS on-course reporter) Colt Knost as possible," CBS's Frank Nobilo quipped. Replied a straight-faced Homa: "That's usually a minor goal." Asked about his success playing in California, Homa said, "There's something about the air in California for us SoCal boys, and those of us who went to school out here." Although his second shot was believed to have found one of the bunkers in front of the green, Homa was so buried in the rough he called for a Rules official to see if the ball was imbedded. It was deemed to be so, allowing him to remove it and place it atop the grass. "We have the backstop," he said, "...I'm just going to tilt the life out of my shoulders; I've just got go hard at this." He wound up 18 feet past the pin. "I don't hate it. It's on the right tier." CBS thanked him and let him go, and, unmic'd, Homa two-putted for par. He was still five back.
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