Zach Johnson and Max Homa. PGA Tour
There wasn’t any pressure for Max Homa during Zach Johnson’s Team USA Ryder Cup announcements. At the No. 5 spot in the US rankings, the 32-year-old had an automatic bid to Marco Simone and seemingly didn’t even watch the captain’s picks livestream. He did miss something crucial, however, as Zach Johnson referred to Homa as the team’s “prom king”.
Why exactly? Great question.
The confounding “prom king” label comes in around the two-minute mark as Zach Johnson breaks down the squad. It arrives with a smirk and then we move on just like that.
🏆 6-time TOUR winner
⛳️ 12 top-10s this season
👑 @RyderCupUSA prom king@MaxHoma23 is ready for his @RyderCup debut 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/q6UZD8VraF— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 29, 2023
This is somehow both a compliment (?) and deeply confusing as no one, most notably Homa, knew what Johnson meant. In a back-and-forth exchange with Golf’s Claire Rogers, Homa seems enthusiastic about the new moniker despite having no clue about what it’s referring to.
Haha what does that even mean??
(Brb going to tell everyone who turned me down for a date in high school that they were wrong after all)— max homa (@Maxhoma) August 29, 2023
“Haha what does that even mean??,” Homa asks. “Brb going to tell everyone who turned me down for a date in high school that they were wrong after all.”
— max homa (@Maxhoma) August 29, 2023
It could be much worse for Homa — making Team USA and being referred to as a “prom king” — but we’re sure that Homa will ask Johnson what the heck he meant sooner or later.