A little bit of fun before serious competition does not harm anyone, at least not the two buddies on the PGA Tour, Max Homa and Justin Thomas. After playing in the TOUR Championship, Thomas will tee up for the first time in the Fall season, and it will be Homa’s first event too after missing the Procore Championship’s cut. Both pros have had a good hiatus and are back at the ACCORDIA Golf Narashino Country Club.

Before they tee up at the ZOZO Championship on October 24th, JT and Homa decided to have an exciting challenge of the short game. The two pros started on one of the greens at the Narashino GC and tried to make more putts than the other. From the looks of it, Homa was way better than JT in doing so, and their fun banter started.

The PGA Tour posted two clips of the pros, in one as soon as Homa’s ball was in the cup. He celebrated and excitedly said, “I’m so back, baby,” whereas his buddy looked dejected. Could this mean that Homa has improved his game, and might start winning again after more than a year? He last won at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open and has since tried to replicate a victory but to no avail.

In another clip, the Burbank native carded another hole, while Thomas missed again. He half-heartedly said, “The thing is that pissing me off about Max; it’s like, they either go in or they’re just not even close.” Even Homa agreed, but Thomas did seem really pissed, as he even shared the post on his Instagram story while tagging Homa and wrote, “Dislike. Dislike all of this so much.” Well, losing against your bud gives another kind of pain, and we totally get what JT was feeling.

It has been a hot minute since JT’s last win, precisely a little over two years. He won the 2022 PGA Championship, and his 2023 and 2024 seasons were forgetful ones, for sure. At this year’s Valspar Championship, to say that his putter went cold is an understatement. He lost 7.034 strokes putting in the third round, making it by far the worst putting round of his career. He made a 2’9″ putt on the first hole and didn’t make anything longer than that for the rest of the day. He missed an eight-footer for par on the second hole, a six-footer for par on the third, a three-putt from 13 feet on the seventh hole, and a missed four-footer for par on the eighth hole.

There are still two days before the actual challenge starts. Until then, who knows, Thomas may defeat Homa in another of their fun games. Homa and Thomas share a special bond, and while they also uplift one another during tough times, as friendship goes on, they pull each other’s legs more often than not. Once, Homa’s smart answer made JT eat his words!

Max Homa trolls Justin Thomas hilariously

There have been many instances where Max Homa has roasted Justin Thomas. In November 2023, when the two were playing in Africa’s Major, or the Nedbank Challenge, JT posted about it on Instagram, with a caption including ‘Thus’. So, Homa used it to troll JT about his lack of a college degree while the 6-time PGA Tour winner had one from the University of California-Berkeley, impressive indeed.

But this one troll was about the 2-time major winner being shorter than Homa and less fun. During the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic press conference, Thomas took over the mic and asked his friend, who was his favorite pairing from the previous week. Unsurprisingly, Homa took his name, but he also added, “He makes me feel tall. And funny.” Before Homa could add another word, JT quickly and jokingly said, Well, that’s the end of the question, and spoke under his breath, saying, “That backfire.” 

They are always joking around and having fun. Even though Homa won in the short game, JT will try to one-up him in another challenge or even as they tee up at the 2024 ZOZO Championship on ACCORDIA Golf Narashino Country Club. Who do you think will play better between the two? Share it in the comments.