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WGC CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 7, 2015J.B. HolmesMIAMI, FLORIDA CANDACE REINHEIMER: We have our 54‑hole leader, J.B. Holmes in the media room. Why don't we open up with a few comments about today's round. J.B. HOLMES: It was a lot of fun. Had a great time out there and just enjoyed playing a difficult golf course and enjoyed the challenge. It was definitely hard. So a lot of fun. Q. Lee Westwood said for anyone to have aced the fourth hole, they must have pushed their tee shot. Can you just take us through that ace? J.B. HOLMES: Well, the wind was coming, it was kind of down and hard off the right. I was actually aiming right at it. And well, I was planning on the wind moving it, and I thought if I hit it perfect‑‑ I usually hit a little bit of a cut, and if I hit it perfect, it would stay straight, and it did. So one of the rare times you get a hole‑in‑one where you actually hit it just like you want to. Q. Did you envision a hole‑in‑one? Did you see that at the beginning of the week on that hole? Seems pretty demanding. Most guys are shocked by it? J.B. HOLMES: No. Nobody did. Q. Did you know that Dustin had made‑‑ J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, it was ahead of me. I saw somebody made it and I figured it was Dustin. Q. A lot of guys are talking about your skill set is uniquely suited for this golf course. Obviously you hit it long. Can you talk about that? J.B. HOLMES: Well, just like any golf course, you have to chip it and putt it well, so you have to be a good ball‑striker on this golf course. You have to be able to put your ball in the right position to make putts. You don't just hit it on the green and make putts here. You have to be below the hole.        You've got to think your way around the golf course, and it's really a ball‑striker's golf course. And definitely there's a few holes where you can take advantage of it; if you can get the driver and get it to go over a few bunkers depending on what the wind is, definitely can be an advantage. It's a long golf course to start with. Q. Obviously a win here tomorrow would be a big win in your career, and obviously it would mean a lot here. Would it mean even more to have a win in a week where you also had a hole‑in‑one? J.B. HOLMES: No. I mean, a win's a win, so if that happens tomorrow, then that would be great. That's what you play out here for. That's what I work really hard to do. But I'm just going to go out tomorrow and control what I control and do my routines and have fun and whatever happens, happens. Q. It was kind of scrambling there for a while but then the run of four straight birdies, you started to run away from people, and at a difficult time with the rain falling and the wind starting to blow? J.B. HOLMES: What's the question‑‑ yes. What's the question? (Laughter). Q. Well, I'm trying to write, so I would like you to fill in a quote for me (laughing). I'm being very honest. Was it‑‑ J.B. HOLMES: Yeah it was difficult. Q. Did you feel you had to get it going at that time? J.B. HOLMES: I mean, I was leading. I felt like I was fine. Obviously I just made a bogey on a par five, and I knew when the wind was getting ready to turn down, you could get to 16; I thought you might be able to get a couple birdies going in. So I felt like that was an opportunity. Obviously you want to make some birdies but I definitely wasn't planning on making four. Was just trying to get one or just come in and make some pars, because, you know, I did have the lead and was just out there just trying to play one shot at a time. Q. What changed in those holes; with a five‑shot lead, what's more likely: You not winning tomorrow or Kentucky not winning the national basketball championship? J.B. HOLMES: I don't know, both of them are up in the air. It's not over yet. Q. Do you change anything with a five‑shot lead tomorrow, as opposed to trying to catch somebody as far as how you approach the golf course? J.B. HOLMES: No, I'm just going to approach it the same way I have. This golf course, you can make some big numbers, so you've got to plan to be safe and hit on sides of the pin but if you get a wedge in your hand, you've got to try and make a birdie. I'm not going to change my game plan. Obviously if you're trying to catch up, you have to hit at a few more flags, but that just gets you in trouble out here. So you've just got to be patient and try to make some pars and minimize the big numbers. I mean, that's part of this golf course is just you can make a few birdies but you can make a bogey real quick out here. Q. Only three people last year went wire‑to‑wire for wins. What do you think makes it so difficult? J.B. HOLMES: I mean, it's four rounds. You can have that‑‑ it's just hard to play a great four days in a row and there's always somebody that has a big score. If you can get that one great round, and then keep playing; there's just a lot of great players out here. It's hard to get very far ahead to where you don't make a mistake. You're going to mistake during the week. It's just hard to do. You get the best players in the world, it's just very difficult. Q. You said after the first round that your putting, you basically made everything. How has it been the last two days? J.B. HOLMES: I think it's been okay.  It has not been‑‑ I wouldn't say it's been great but it hasn't been bad. In the middle, obviously I've hit some bad putts and missed a couple short ones. Overall today, I putted pretty good. Up until the point where I started making a few putts, it wasn't awesome but I wouldn't say it was bad. I really had not made anything and I made a few coming in. Q. Obviously it got pretty close there for a while. Dustin was right up there with you. How satisfying was it to pull away like you did and get a better lead? J.B. HOLMES: I mean, it's just nice to make some putts. So I mean, all you can really ask for is a chance to win on Sunday on the back nine, so that's my goal every week, to try to have that opportunity and put myself in a good position where hopefully tomorrow I'll have a chance. Q. Are you a truck driving man or are you likely to take a big chunk of prize money and go buy a Cadillac? J.B. HOLMES: I'm all good on cars. I don't need one right now, so I'll just put it in the bank. Q. When you hit basically the perfect shot, as I imagine a hole‑in‑one is, what is it like going to the next tee? Is there any kind of reset that needs to take place? J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, you have to definitely reset. Your body has got so much energy and jacked up. I mean, luckily you have the whole hole to at least calm down a little bit, but you've definitely got to reset your mind and try to forget about it and go to the next hole. Q. Do you have any kind of history in the wet; did you tend to play better or worse and what do you change when the conditions get worse? J.B. HOLMES: You've just got to change with the weather. I mean, obviously when they get some water on the greens and stuff, when they have been firm like this, it's going to skip a little bit more. You're to the going to be able to spin the ball as much, so you have to play with a little bit more bounce, and then you've got the possibility that the ball could jump on you because you get water in between the club. It turns it into a little bit more of a guessing game, and you just have to play a little bit safer and maybe not be quite as aggressive at some stuff. Q. How many holes‑in‑one have you had in competition, and might that be the most meaningful one considering you're leading a tournament at the time? J.B. HOLMES: I think that was my second one in competition. So yeah, definitely, when you're top of the leaderboard and you can get a hole‑in‑one, that's awesome. So I guess that would be the most meaningful one. Q. What did you hit on 16, 3‑wood or what, and what are you thinking when you get to that tee? J.B. HOLMES: What I think when I get to that tee. Q. When you get to 16 tee, what's on your mind? J.B. HOLMES: Today? I figured it wasn't a driver, just because it was so much downwind. I knew the win was in the back there and thought it would be just a good 3‑wood, and I hit a good shot and skipped over into that bunker but it was a pretty simple bunker shot. So I was happy with the swing. Q. What was your other ace; where and when? J.B. HOLMES: I think it was at Travelers on like 11. It was on Sunday but I was like, they were going so low, I went like‑‑ I think I went eagle, birdie, eagle and went up like eight spots. So I mean, it was‑‑ I was in the back, so I didn't‑‑ it was nice to have a hole‑in‑one but it didn't really help me out that much. Q. Do you remember the year? J.B. HOLMES: No clue. Q. On 18, did you have a shot at the green? J.B. HOLMES: Even if I did, I was 232 yards out, nothing but trouble there. No, I just laid it up and just knocked it on the green and tried to make a putt. Hit a good putt. Thought I made it. That's a par 5 today and it's very difficult. So I'm sure I wasn't the only one to make a bogey on that hole. CANDACE REINHEIMER: Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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