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PGA Championship 2019: Max Homa wins Long Drive competition at Bethpage Black

May 14, 2019
PGA Championship - Preview Day 2

Stuart Franklin

FARMINGDALE, N.Y.—Max Homa hit pay dirt at Quail Hollow two weeks ago, his Wells Fargo Championship win securing his tour status and bestowing an invite to the 2019 PGA Championship. Though his victory on Tuesday doesn't confer the same amount of gravitas, the 28-year-old's at least taking home some hardware.

On his tour of Bethpage Black's back nine on Tuesday, Homa hit a 318-yard bomb on the 16th hole, a distance good enough to win the PGA Championship's Long Drive contest.

There weren't the eye-popping distances of PGA's past, not with sub-50 temperatures and wet terrain. Still, Homa's drive bested Shane Lowry, Patrick Reed and PGA club pro Carey Russell by eight yards.

Homa, who is playing in his second career major this week, ranks 46th in distance this year.

The Long Drive event was resurrected in 2014 after a 30-year hiatus, with Louis Oosthuizen, Anirban Lahiri, Byeong Hun An, Jason Kokrak, and Bryson DeChambeau grabbing the crown the past five years. For his efforts, Homa received a gold money clip.