SILVIS, Ill. — Even surrounded by 156 fellow competitors and thousands of well-wishing fans, a golf course can be the loneliest place in the world for a PGA TOUR player struggling to recapture his game.

Like Rickie Fowler and countless players before him, Max Homa finds himself fighting to rediscover the form that carried him to six TOUR wins in his 12-year career, and berths on the 2022 and 2024 Presidents Cup and 2023 Ryder Cup U.S. teams.

In the company of Fowler and Jake Knapp, Homa will take to the 10th tee at 7:40 a.m. Thursday as one of the marquee attractions at the John Deere Classic, but as a 110-to-1 long shot to walk away the winner on Sunday.

Working through swing changes with a new coach, new caddie and new equipment, Homa has fallen from a career-best world ranking of No. 5 in 2023 to 99th entering the week. Just a little more than a year ago, he was No. 10 in the world, but at the moment, 12 months feels like light years ago.

The 34-year-old Californian’s lone top-25 finish this year was a T12 at the Masters and he’s missed seven cuts in 16 starts. That doesn’t include a January withdrawal at the Farmers Insurance Open following a first-round 77 at the same Torrey Pines track where he scored his last win in 2023.

His strong finish at Augusta did end a streak of five missed cuts, but he comes to TPC Deere Run for the first time since 2017, having missed the cut in two of his past three starts and ranked 122nd in the 2025 FedExCup standings.

“Yeah, my game isn’t particularly sharp,” he said on Wednesday. “Obviously, I haven’t played well this year or great lately, either.”

Homa only needs to look to Fowler to understand that fickle nature of the game. One of the most recognizable faces on TOUR since his 2009 debut, Fowler pulled out of a prolonged nosedive with his sixth professional victory at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic. But he has a lone top 10 finish in 2025, and ranks 72nd in the FedExCup standings and 111th in the Official World Golf Ranking entering this week.

You can tell Homa golf is a fickle game and cite myriad examples of players who’ve rebounded from slumps, but that will serve as cold comfort on a steamy July day.

“I don’t think anybody out here is struggling and thinking it’s a fickle game, I’ll have it soon,” he said. “It seems to go a lot faster than it comes back.”

Homa’s former Cal Bear teammate Michael Kim is proof of that. Kim won the 2018 John Deere Classic by a record eight shots, and then quickly endured a streak of 23 missed cuts, lost his TOUR card, and spent several years in search of the form that made him the 2013 men's college golf Player of the Year.

Kim, though, returns to TPC Deere Run ranked 29th in the FedExCup standings, 55th in the world, and with three top-10 finishes, including a share of second at the WM Phoenix Open.

Homa hasn’t sought advice from his former college teammate, and, if he should, Kim said there’s nothing he could tell him that Homa doesn’t already know.

“He doesn't need much advice from me,” Kim said. “He went through it all earlier in his career, so he knows everything it takes to come back, and I'm sure he'll be back very soon.”

One thing Kim knows is that, as lonely as a slumping golfer might feel in the moment, they are far from alone in this frustratingly fickle game.

“I mean, even Tiger went through a bunch of swing changes,” Kim said. “He didn't play obviously as bad as I did when he was going through some changes, but he also had some downturns. And even a guy like Rory had some obvious downturns, too. So everyone goes through it in their career, and I think if you get past those bad moments, you come back stronger.”

Homa has received that message from other top players who struggled and rebounded.

“I played nine holes with Jason Day yesterday,” he said. “We talked about a lot of things. He’s always a breath of fresh air out here. Justin Thomas has been like the greatest friend you could ever ask for out here. Collin Morikawa, too.”

One place Homa hasn’t turned to for solace is X. Years back, he was a constant and amusing presence on the social medium, but said it has changed, becoming a deeply divisive social scene.

“X is an awful, awful place,” he said. “I miss the connection with fans, but nothing comes without so much hate and anger. It does get overwhelming.”

Thankfully, lonely as it can be inside the ropes, Homa has found encouragement from the fans outside them.

“I’ve been super lucky, especially with the kids,” he said. “It just puts things in perspective. I haven’t had a very fun year and a half, but when you get a bunch of kids coming up, excited to get their names on their hat, at least it makes you feel good inside. Even if you just made a bogey, it’s definitely something that gives you a nice reality check.”