Max Homa Reveals 'Bad Word' Mantra On Glove Inspired Strong Open Start

Max Homa is undoubtedly one of the best golfers in the world, which is why a glance at his record in Majors makes for strange reading.

In 16 appearances in the four marquee men's events, he has missed more cuts than he's made, most recently suffering a painful early exit at last month's US Open in his native Los Angeles. But that disappointment might just have sparked a long overdue change of fortunes.

Homa's first round 68 at Royal Liverpool was the lowest of his Major career to date, and afterwards he revealed it was inspired by a simple message on his glove that reads "NFG" and allows him to keep things in perspective. 

"It's just kind of a mantra. It has a bad word in it, so I won't tell you what it is. It's just something I started doing in Detroit. Just stop caring so much and let myself just be myself," the World No. 8 said.

"Sometimes you just need a reminder that it's going to be all right. Just go play golf."

What "NFG" stands for is anyone's guess but it certainly seems to be doing the trick. The smooth-swinging 32-year-old mixed four birdies with just one bogey on Thursday at The Open as he looks to add to a solitary top-30 Major finish, a record he admitted "sucks."

It's early days, of course, but he hopes the new strategy will enable him to tap into the form he regularly displays on the PGA Tour.

He added: "The U.S. Open hurt me a lot. I played awesome. Had a three-hole stretch that was bad, and it just didn't feel like I deserved to miss that cut. Then I went to the next week in Connecticut and missed that one by one and played fine.

"It's just one of those feels like I'm gripping the wheel real tight. Especially everybody knows my major record sucks. I think I'm not myself when I play them.

"Then I go to regular tour events and I feel like I free up and I play great. I'm a lot more consistent. Crazy things don't seem to happen.

"Today felt more like that. I felt like I was playing golf on a hard golf course and just hitting good 5-irons and good 3-woods and just moving along."

It strikes a similar chord to the story that emerged during the 2010 Open. Eventual winner Louis Oosthuizen stuck a red dot on his glove on the advice of renowned sports psychologist Karl Morris to improve his concentration.

"His pre-shot routine was all over the place," Morris told the Independent at the time. "I suggested he changed his whole game plan after he told me that when he played in the [2010] US Open he was making split decisions instead of thinking about what he should have been doing. 

"One of the tips I gave him was to put a red spot on his glove and to focus on it during his swing."

Oosthuizen went on to produce one of the most dominant displays in men's Major Championship history, clinching the Claret Jug by seven shots from Lee Westwood.

Whether Homa will be able to follow suit is a mammoth ask, but at the time of writing he resides in the top five. Should he lift the Claret Jug come Sunday evening, he may want to make his new mantra more permanent.