LA JOLLA – Someone from L.A. winning a big one in San Diego. Imagine that.

Then again, Max Homa – born in Burbank, graduated from Valencia High, fervent fan of the Dodgers and Lakers – seemed to have the crowd rooting for him down the stretch Saturday at Torrey Pines, when he came back from a five-shot deficit at the start of the day and took advantage of the late misfires of Sam Ryder to win the Farmers Insurance Open.

Even after he’d been quoted by San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Bryce Miller early in the week about his dislike for the hometown Padres. More about that later, but let’s just say that a few folks in the gallery registered their objections.

But he has said, and his tour bio confirms, that San Diego is one of his favorite cities. And yes, it’s possible to enjoy the city and root against its teams.

Anyway, this is a big state. Saturday’s victory was Homa’s sixth PGA Tour triumph, and four of those have come in California. The first was at Riviera in 2021, when he won a playoff with Tony Finau. The second and third were the Fortinet Championship, the fall event in Napa. He won that one for the second time last September when he chipped in for birdie on the 72nd hole to win by a shot over Danny Willett.

His other titles were in the Wells Fargo Championships in North Carolina, in 2019 and 2022.

There was little reason going into the day to expect a spirited charge from Homa. Sam Ryder, who had led this tournament pretty much from the moment he sank an eagle putt on his first hole Wednesday, entered the day at 12 under, and Jon Rahm was next at 10-under and with two straight tournament victories under his belt. Rahm flamed out early, and Ryder’s chances sank with a double-bogey on 15 and disappeared with another bogey on 17, as Homa, Keegan Bradley, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala were surging.

Ryder finished with a final day 75, finishing the tournament at 9-under and tied for fourth. And maybe that’s part of the process for a player, at 33, who has yet to win on the tour.

“There was definitely a lot of new pressure, but it was fun,” he said. “I was trying to just enjoy it … My attitude was, no matter what happens, there’s going to be positives to take away. It’s hard to swallow right now, but that’s what I’m telling myself.”

Homa understands.

“It’s hard to win golf tournaments. I think that kind of helps me. Sam is a phenomenal golfer, and I’m sure he’ll win a bunch out here. But he hasn’t won yet and it’s hard to win. I know that. I’ve done it, fortunately. The old guys say experience is key. That’s what they’re talking about.”

The day, and the tournament, turned for good on 15 for Homa, who had four birdies on the front nine after starting the day 7-under. Playing a hole ahead of Ryder, Homa birdied 11 as well, saved par on 13, and bogeyed 15, but hit his tee shot on the par-3 16th to within 15 feet of the hole. When he curled that putt into the cup he was at 12-under, and moments later Ryder went into the right rough twice on 15 and double-bogeyed the hole, and Homa had a 2-shot lead.

He carried it the rest of the way, saving par again at 17 and tapping in a 3-footer for a birdie on 18 to win it.

It has been quite the journey. Homa, a Cal alumnus, has been on the tour since the 2013-14 season but needed 68 tournaments over nearly five years before winning one. And maybe understanding how hard the journey is can help a player to be able to handle coming from behind, or winning on the last hole or in a playoff, as he did at Riviera.

“I just remember that experience of, ‘Just go play golf, see what happens,’ ” he said.

“There’s just so much going on that you can’t really get ahead of yourself. And I struggle with that at times. But when it’s something like today or when you are behind chasing, it almost eases you into just one at a time and make everybody beat you, and just play a good round of golf and see what happens. You can’t force yourself to a 66 out here. You can’t force yourself to 64 … (Saturday) I had my game. I played awesome, swung it great, just did not make anything, and held it together and shot one under and gave myself a chance today. Same round of golf (Sunday), but the ball goes in the hole.

“That patience is something I lean on when I’ve been behind, and knowing just how darn hard it is to win out there. There’s just a lot of great players on the golf course, and these final rounds are marathons. They seem to take forever.”

Before his comeback, Home attracted attention this weekend, agreeing to wear a microphone on the 13th hole for CBS’ Friday coverage. It went well, and that was probably to be expected for a guy who has quite the personality, as shown on social media.

“I like to say dumb things and make dumb jokes and observe weird stuff and tweet about it,” he said. “But when I work, when I practice and I play tournaments, this is what I love. I love what today was. It was incredible.”

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Oh, and as for his interactions with the San Diego fans regarding baseball? He didn’t respond – his caddie, Joe Greiner, did a little more of the talking, and Homa said, “I enjoy listening to him talking trash back to them” – but the tournament champion did have the last word before leaving town.

“They (Padres fans) talk a very big game, which is just lost on me,” Homa said. “They have all the pressure in the world on them this year. They spent all the money that we had been spending, so if they don’t win they can hear the same things that they chirp back at us Dodger fans.”

“Yeah, it’s nice. It’s nice to win up and down the state of California and, you know, carry that L.A. logo on my head and in my heart.”

He’ll be in friendlier territory in three weeks when the tour returns to Riviera. And the U.S. Open will be at L.A. Country Club this June, where he won the Pac-12 championship for Cal in 2013.

“I’ll hear more Dodgers fans up there than Padres, so that will be a nice change from this week,” he said.

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