For Max Homa, the path to rebuilding his career is paved with inspiration from the mental game of his friend and rival, Scottie Scheffler. They’ve teamed up plenty of times, including at the 2023 Ryder Cup. They’ve traded jokes too, like Homa ribbing Scheffler’s 2024 arrest before the PGA Championship. He admitted it was a tough look losing to the guy who was arrested. Two years later, though, he finds that mental game inspiring.

“…He’s very forthcoming in interviews, so I’ve tried to listen to those and be as mindful of what he’s saying as I can, but yeah, he does a really good job of committing to golf shots,” Homa said in an exclusive with Golf Channel. “He does a very good job in the last few weeks, you know, having a bad stretch of golf… He’s a five-tool player, and one of those is his brain, so it’s pretty cool to see.”

Scheffler is known for his thoughtful responses, even if sometimes they sound borderline mundane. Or, surprising. We all remember when he confessed that golf does not satisfy him, despite loving it. He has also been consistently saying that he’d rather be a great dad than a great golfer. If you notice closely, his answers don’t change much either. That’s because he knows where to draw the boundary, which, undoubtedly, helps him achieve great things on the course.

At the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach on Thursday, Scheffler posted an even-par 72. On Friday, it was 66, and he ultimately finished two shots clear of the eventual winner, Collin Morikawa. Something similar happened at the WM Phoenix Open. Yet, this season, he already has a win and three top 10s. So yes, Scheffler knows how to commit to golf shots.

Back in 2024, when asked the same, Scottie Scheffler revealed, “My edge is when I get kind of immersed in the joy of competition. Going out there and playing and doing what I love is typically when I play my best golf.”

Meanwhile, Homa is undoubtedly struggling. There was a time when he reached a career-high ranking of 5. Now, he is outside the top 100 (148). Last season, he finished 105th on the FedExCup points list. He missed five straight cuts last year before finally posting a T12 at the Masters. This season, he has made more of the five cuts and posted a T13 at last week’s Cognizant Classic.

The signs have always been there. Not to mention, he underwent swing changes, now works with coach Mark Blackburn, etc. And he has often been consistent in his praise for Scheffler. In 2024, he acknowledged his fellow pro’s performance, then confessed that he’d like to beat him. We are still not there, but the learnings from Scheffler will likely help. Not to mention, they share a playful friendship. But he doesn’t need to work on much. Last season, at the WM Phoenix Open, Scheffler praised his work ethic.

Homa’s on-course struggles are compounded by a personal battle he’s waged for nearly 20 years: a chronic and ’embarrassing’ skin disease he only recently had diagnosed.

Max Homa is battling “embarrassing” seborrheic dermatitis

For almost 20 years, Max Homa battled seborrheic dermatitis, aka seb derm. It’s a chronic inflammatory skin disease that is said to affect at least 10 million Americans. Needless to say, he is one of them. He just didn’t know that until he contacted a dermatologist. Until then, he felt embarrassed about the disease. Not to mention, it hurt his confidence as well.

During an exclusive, he revealed the same, saying, “That was number one. Just a little embarrassing. I always just wrote it off as dry skin, and if people ever said, ‘You got something on your face,’ it’s like, ‘No, no.’ It’s always hard when someone points out the exact thing you are hoping no one saw.”

The disease typically presents as red patches covered with large, greasy, yellow-gray scales and a persistent itch. To manage it, Homa has been using once-daily, non-steroidal Zoryve foam since last year. He also partners with its maker, Arcutis Biotherapeutics, to raise awareness for others with seborrheic dermatitis. Relatability with others helps, though, Homa revealed.

Needless to say, fans would hope to see the same help his game as well.