On Thursday, Max Homa wrote in his journal a question he’d have to answer himself. He’s one of the most introspective players in golf. But he’s never been in a position quite like this. His rise has been quick, currently ranked just outside the top 10 in the world, and a win in a major should be just a matter of time. Maybe it was supposed to happen close to home at last year’s U.S. Open played at Los Angeles Country Club. It didn’t. He’s only made the top 10 in a major once. He’s been cut nine times in 17 major appearances. He’s only been better than 40th twice.

So this week at the Masters, Homa would no longer ask for more. He found acceptance in his journal Thursday.

“However good I am is however good I am,” Homa said he wrote.

Then he continued.

“I don’t need to try to be better than I am, and just see where that takes me,” Homa said Friday. “Maybe it’s winning this and maybe it’s not, and I’m okay with that. I know what I put into this game, trying to get every ounce back doesn’t really work, and I’ve tried that part.”

Homa has never faced pressure like this. Never been in a spot like this. But he finished his press conference Friday and went home to sleep tied for the lead at the Masters after 36 holes. He knew he’d be playing in the final group on the weekend at a major for the first time in his life. It’s not that he’s been close before and missed. There are no demons like that. He’s never contended at all.

But this week has been different for Homa. It’s the type of test for Homa to chase greatness on a track played annually but never gets tired. It asks big questions and demands answers as if it was some sort of mental chess match. It gives a spotlight at the end waiting for the right man to step in and make the moment for himself.

And maybe this was Max Homa’s turn. For 18 holes Saturday under the beam of that spotlight on the biggest stage of his life, Homa tried to find out if his good is good enough.

After shooting a 1-over-par 73 in the third round of the Masters, Homa didn’t answer the question in full. He’ll leave Augusta National on Saturday night two shots back of Scottie Scheffler at -7 overall and one shot back of Collin Morikawa at -6. Homa will play the final round of the Masters in the second-to-last group.

Homa said the nerves hit him when he left the gym Saturday before his round. He’s talked often about his childhood as a golf fan. He was at Augusta National in 1997 when Tiger Woods won his first green jacket. He said he’s “watched all the Masters probably 700 times, especially the Tigers ones.”

Saturday would be his biggest moment in a tournament he loves. He received a standing ovation as he walked to the first tee. The gallery so clearly pulling for him to win with roars as he walked from tee to tee and onto greens as if he were leading the Masters by five shots and taking a victory lap.

The patrons called out to him as he walked by and early in his round, Homa noticed and smiled. But that smile quickly became a locked-in focus between the ropes. But the patrons continued to whisper to themselves as he stepped up to each shot. Praying for a good swing. As if they could will his ball into the hole.

The people want this. The gallery talked to themselves with comments like, “He’s such a nice guy,” or mentioning the bets they’d placed on him just cause they wanted to see it happen for him — and maybe for their wallets, too.

Nor could many of the patrons root for Homa’s playing partner Bryson DeChambeau, they said, spurning the long-ball hitter for his controversial move to LIV Golf. They weren’t rooting for Scheffler, the world’s best player who holds the 54-hole lead. They didn’t want to see the 2022 Masters winner on top again.

Homa was the people’s choice.

But they couldn’t will it all to be.

The nerves sent Homa’s first tee shot into the 9th fairway. He spent his front nine scrambling out of pine straw, around trees and out from in front of grandstands but saved par every time. He spent his back nine relatively steady still as moving day fluctuated the leaderboard around him.

His round was safe. He made par on every hole but the fickle par 3 12th where he paid for hitting over the back of the green on his tee shot. Homa used his 3-wood on par 5 holes several times. Bar the one missed tee shot on 12, Homa did what he set out for: being ready and placed for Sunday.

The Masters cannot be won on Saturday. But it can be lost. Homa didn’t open himself up to that.

“Hard, very patient,” Homa said of this third round. “I would say frustrating at times, but also really, really pleased with it. I don’t know what more I could have done. Could I have seen some putts go in, but I don’t hate how I putt.”

But he missed several opportunities.

Homa had birdie putts on holes 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. He missed all of them. None were particularly easy — never closer than 10 feet — but came so close so many times. Close to having his moment. But never quite getting there.

A lip-out on a 16-foot birdie putt on 17 might be the most excruciating — Homa crouched to the ground in frustration. It summed up the day. Close, but not close enough. Maybe that’s what has eluded him in these majors for so long.

But he’s still in third place, still by far his best performance in a major. He said he wanted to be conservative Saturday and he did that well. It still sets up his first chance to win one of the four biggest events of the year — and this being the biggest. He knows it, too.

Homa said he has envisioned what it could look like on the 18th green Sunday should he pull this off. But he also imagines what could go wrong. When those thoughts of implosion come, he thinks back to the smile he wants to have and a certain blazer slid over his shoulder.

Homa has won on the PGA Tour several times but never been in this spot for a major. After his round Saturday, he thought back to Masters past. He’s watched dozens lose it. He’s watched dozens take it.

It gave Homa a moment to be introspective again.

“Just because you’re nervous and uncomfortable doesn’t mean you’re not going to succeed,” Homa said. “I feel like I showed myself that. Even if I am nervous tomorrow, just embrace it a little bit.”

In his way is a titan in Scheffler seeking an ascension into a different stratosphere of historic golfers tomorrow. Homa will be one group ahead of Scheffler on the course, as if in the glaring gaze of the game’s best player over his shoulder. He was directly behind Scheffler on Saturday. He heard the roars all day as Scheffler surged in the final six holes.

So if this week is Homa’s best yet, will that be good enough?

“I’m going to remind myself I’m a dog,” Homa said Saturday. “And I’m ready for this moment.”

Matt Cohen covers sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]