Max Homa calls social media a 'safe haven for a**holes,' says logging off was the right move

USA Today

7 hours ago

SILVIS, Ill. — It's common knowledge these days that social media use can have an adverse effect on one's mental health.
Even though they make lots of money and get to travel the world, professional athletes aren't immune to such impacts of the internet.
Before he became a 6-time winner on the PGA Tour, Max Homa rose to fame on Twitter, now known as X, with his roasting of amateur golf swings and witty quips about whatever was happening online that day. But as Homa's fame grew, he decided to step away from the internet, for the most part. He still pops in from time to time, but his social media presence is nowhere near what it used to be.
That's old news, but the topic came up again in Homa's press conference on Wednesday at the John Deere Classic.
His recent struggles on the PGA Tour are no secret. A 12th-place finish at the Masters is the lone bright spot in what has otherwise been a massively disappointing 2025 season for Homa, who at one point was ranked in the top 10 in the world last year. He's missed eight cuts in 16 starts and doesn't have any top 25 finishes other than Augusta.
Asked about how he steps away from the game to reset his mind, Homa remained grateful for the life he lives but lamented the less-appealing elements of notoriety.
"Someone asked me the other day the difference between this and when I played poorly in 2017," Homa said. "One is that the golf is a lot closer than it was then. The lack of anonymity is a bit hard. Everywhere I go, someone is talking to me about golf. That's obviously a great thing. Like I said, I am really lucky. It's just hard to go do much. I used to really like going to sports bars and watching games with my friends and that's just not exactly a safe haven anymore."
The internet is no place to fill that void, either, according to Homa.
"Twitter, or X, is an awful, awful place. It took me a while to catch on to how impactful that can be and how much of a waste of energy. I miss the connection with the fans, but nothing comes without, I mean, just so much hate and anger. There is a lot of love in there, too, but unfortunately, it really does get overwhelmed with the -- you can have one really bad one."
Homa's main annoyance seemed to be that any petulant commenter would never say such things to his face, and that the keyboard masks their true identity in a way that makes them feel as if they can say anything without repercussions.
"You wouldn't choose to sit around a table with somebody being that mean, you would always get up if you were there and someone was being rude to you. You would ask them to leave or you would leave."
But that's not possible on the internet.
"It's a safe haven for assholes, for lack of a better term. Sorry, PGA Tour."
Homa's aggressive remark sparked much discussion in the online golf sphere Wednesday, with many taking the other side, saying he needs to just suck it up, deal with the negativity and stop complaining -- providing a moment of irony and playing into perhaps the exact reason why he logged off in the first place.
"I don't know if it's the gambling world or whatnot... but people say some bad, bad things. People tell you you should die on the internet."
Homa says that the bad outweighs the good online.
"It has nothing to do with not contacting people. I would love to connect with people, but I'd love to do it in person. I have yet to meet somebody in person that has anything even remotely mean [to say]."
In the meantime, the 34-year-old Californian plans to pick up some new hobbies back home as a way to clear his head of the stresses of professional golf.
"I was thinking about getting into cooking," Homa said. "When you have a two-and-a-half-year-old, you make a lot more meals than I was for myself. Would like to get better at that. Treat my wife to not my typical home cooked meal. Something a little bit better. I think I might get into that.
"Thought about getting into fishing. That seems peaceful and no one can bother me out there. So, yeah, I don't know. Might workshop it. I've got some ideas."
Homa and his wife, Lacey, announced in April that they're expecting their second child. Before then, he hopes to improve his culinary skills.
"I can grill a little bit. I can make a decent sauce for pasta. But I'm not super great at it. Fortunately, my son eats chicken tenders, so he probably thinks I'm a great cook."
Homa is set to tee off 8:40 a.m. ET Thursday in the first round of the 2025 John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run.