WATCH: Max Homa Gets Mic'd Up During Farmers Insurance Open

Fans were treated to a new initiative for the PGA Tour as Max Homa was mic'd up during the Farmers Insurance Open. Previously, players like Scott Hend and Dean Burmester have been mic'd during tournament play on the DP World Tour, with the format also being used during several of The Matches.

At Torrey Pines, it made for fantastic viewing for those at home, with Homa explaining how he will play certain shots and his thought process, as well as an amusing rules situation which involved the American calling for a rules official after his ball was plugged in the grass.

On Friday, TV network CBS was making its debut of presenting the PGA Tour coverage and, previously stating in the No Laying Up podcast, Homa revealed that he did help suggest the feature of being mic'd up during tournament play.

One fantastic example of the walk and talk feature being used, came at the 13th hole, with Homa speaking to Trevor Immelman, the new lead analyst, Frank Nobilo, Ian Baker-Finch and Colt Knost, about how he played his tee shot, implying that he only hits a draw off the tee once a tournament. He also noted how he attacks par 5s if he can go for the green with his second shot, stating that he doesn't aim at the flag when he is hitting his approach shot in.

The introduction comes in as the PGA Tour continues to improve its product, especially with the recent threat of LIV Golf. The PGA Tour has already been working with Netflix on a behind the scenes docuseries, set to release on the 15th February and, with the introduction of players being mic'd up, it's yet another initiative that will bring fans closer to the action and hopefully give them an edge over the Saudi-backed series.

So, how did users react to the new feature? Well, rather well, as many praised the initiative and wanted to see more of it in future events. Homa himself was also pleased with how it went down, as the 32-year-old stated: "Yeah, I think it went well. There were a couple bumps, but overall I was pretty happy with it. I hope the fans at home liked it and I hope that we can do something like that, if not the same thing, going forward.

"I thought it was good. I thought it was good to have insight on the golf course. Obviously it's going to take us as players being a lot more flexible, but this is an entertainment product and that means we should entertain."

Along with his thoughts on how it went, Homa revealed the process of how the walk and talk feature came about, with the American explaining that "(PGA Tour Exec) Andy Padzer texted me, called me maybe like two months ago and he had sent me a clip of Trea Turner being mic'd up for an inning in a random baseball game. It was awesome because the ball comes to him in the middle of them talking, he kind of fumbles it, ends up getting the guy out at first and says, you know, hey, I've been lazy lately, I didn't get my knee down or whatever. I was like, man, I just learned a lot in 15 seconds.

"He said we should do something like that. We've been going back and forth because I was trying to give him the player perspective, that we don't love doing 18 holes mic'd up, we imagine that every single word we're saying is being broadcast and it's just not very comfortable. So kind of came up with this idea with him and the CBS team. They were kind of figuring out the technology, if an AirPod would be a good idea. And who knows if that's how this will finish up, but one hole, two holes at a time isn't so bad."

He went on to add "like I said, we're entertainers and I'd like for the players to be flexible. If it makes you super uncomfortable, that's all good, but it wasn't so bad, that was the first rendition. Hopefully, like I said, people at home appreciated it and enjoyed it because I just think it's a little different than in an interview. You're learning about a hole, about not just the player but about the tournament and the golf course and what it takes to be playing, you know, high-level competitive golf."

Would any other pros take on the mic then? Well, according to Homa, there are "a lot of guys,” with the 32-year-old jokingly claiming that “I don’t think JT (Justin Thomas) will ever do it, but I think he’d be phenomenal. I honestly think a lot of guys would be great at it. I think Jon Rahm would be — it would just be interesting to hear him.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think — that’s kind of what I see the beauty in this is, I don’t think there’s a wrong guy to use. Even if you don’t want to be super outgoing about it, even if we could just hear you talk through the shot with your caddie very clearly, even if you weren’t having like a back and forth and you could maybe even, if you did just have one question, just explain what happened on that shot — hey, I necked it because blank — and go about your business. I don’t think that there’s a bad person that would be on that.”