FBR OPEN

February 5, 2006

J.B. Holmes

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Congratulations, J. B., on the 2006 FBR Open. That sounds pretty good.

J.B. HOLMES: Woo!

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: You have to look back at the last six months, you were playing an amateur event, the Walker Cup, at the end of August. Did you ever think you'd be here right now?

J.B. HOLMES: Not so quick. I hoped it would happen this way, but everything has just happened just right for me and I've got the breaks. I've got to thank the Lord for blessing my life. Just everything he's done for me put me in my positions and let me succeed.

Q. You said it was your mom's birthday. What's her name?

J.B. HOLMES: Lisa Holmes.

Q. You're not going to give the age out. Have you had a chance to talk to her at all?

J.B. HOLMES: I talked to her on the green out there. She was yelling.

Q. And your dad flew in from Lexington?

J.B. HOLMES: I think he came in from Auburn. They were visiting my sister. I didn't see him until 17. I guess he was there all day.

Q. I guess he got there on the 3rd hole. But you didn't see him until you gave him the hug?

J.B. HOLMES: You can't see through all those people.

Q. What was that like to turn and see him at that point in time?

J.B. HOLMES: It was really nice. I kind of thought he would come, but I talked to him last night and he was in Auburn. But I was thinking, well, maybe he just didn't want to come, didn't want to jinx it since he hasn't been here. I was glad he came.

Q. At the start of the season, you must have kind of set down some goals. Would anything come close to this?

J.B. HOLMES: It was one of my goals to win out here. It happened real quickly. I didn't expect it so soon. I knew that I had the ability. Every tournament I played, I just got more confidence and more confidence. It's just been a whirlwind right now.

Q. Was it as tough to win this as the Q school?

J.B. HOLMES: It was different. I mean, Q school you play three rounds. Usually it's almost over, and Q school is just a whole different animal with a different type of pressure. I mean, if I go out there and shoot 80 today, I still get to play next week if I want to or get into the tournament after that. I shoot 80 at Q school, you're going on the mini tours or scratching to make a living and everything.

It's just a different type of pressure. This was something that I really wanted. I get another chance almost every week. Q school you have one chance.

Q. Considering the pressure, was your 4 iron on 15, the second shot, maybe the best shot you've ever hit, considering the circumstances, you're one up?

J.B. HOLMES: Probably in the circumstances. It definitely ranks up there real high. I think I made a 15 footer to win the Kentucky Open one time. It was a lot of pressure. A different tournament. But yeah, that was really nice. Probably the biggest shot of the day for me was on 13 when I was back there and just had no chance to get up and down. And Ryan was up there, made it, and then I made that long putt to keep the one shot lead.

Q. How old were you when you won the Kentucky Open?

J.B. HOLMES: I think it was like two or three years ago. I won back to back.

Q. Your dad said you were 19?

J.B. HOLMES: He would know more than me. 19.

Q. When you win early in the year like this, a lot of players think it takes the pressure off, they can go on and have a little bit more relaxing year, maybe have a better year when they're looking forward to it. Now that you've had the win what do you look forward to now, considering your newness to the Tour?

J.B. HOLMES: I want to win another one. You have a chance to do something great every week, and that's what's so great about the Tour. I can go out next week and miss the cut and play terrible, but I can go the next week and win.

It's just phenomenal being able to get out here. There's no limit. Whatever tournament you enter, and you can ask anybody that's on the Tour or anybody that plays golf, when they enter a tournament they want to win. They enter to win. They enter because they think they can win. You don't see anybody going in, well, hopefully I can do good or maybe I can get top 15. You know, nobody on the Tour has that mindset. Everybody comes out here, they want to win. I'm the same way.

Q. Was there any element of frustration on the front? I think you were in three bunkers, you made nine straight pars. You were fine but not making putts.

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, that was frustrating. I started out a little shaky. Hit a great shot I hit 1 perfect and had the ball lip out.

2, I hit a great drive and I thought I hit a great wedge shot, but I guess I was a little juiced and pumped it over the green. But got up and down.

And then par 5 struggled a little bit. My short game was doing good. I was hitting it up there close.

It was a little frustrating towards like 7. I missed that birdie putt on 7. I thought I was going to make the one on 8 and left it short.

9, hit a bad putt. I was starting to get pretty frustrated around 8 and 9, then hit a bad shot on 10 but recovered nicely and made a putt. Then kind of got it rolling.

Q. How was your lie on 10? You had just let go of the club.

J.B. HOLMES: It wasn't too bad, but I had a 60 degree in my hand so I can get it out. If it would have been like a 4 iron or something, it wouldn't have been that good of a shot.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Let's finish out your round. You made birdie on 10 and then you made birdie on 13.

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, 13 was in the fairway. I was in between clubs, picked the wrong one, hit a great shot and just landed in the middle of the green and went over. Then went over in about the worst spot it could be. I played an okay shot, really wasn't that great of a shot to 25, 30 feet.

Then hit a great putt and it went in. So that was all the way around.

Q. What was the club on that?

J.B. HOLMES: I hit a 6 iron.

Q. What was your number in, do you remember?

J.B. HOLMES: I think it was it might have been 216 to the pin or something.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: 15, you had eagle?

J.B. HOLMES: I hit a good 3 wood. That was probably one of the bigger swings of the day, just getting it in that fairway. It's so firm and the ball can take off to the left there. Then just hit a great 4 iron right where I aimed it and just smoked it. It went up there, rolled right up there and then made a great putt.

Q. You had 257 to the flag and you hit 4 iron over water?

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah. It was only 230 to the front. It flew like 235 or something.

Q. Was that the second best shot of the day?

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah. The putt was probably the second best shot. The 4 iron was definitely huge. Ryan being in the water and then hitting it up there like that, that was a big change for me.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: 17, you had a birdie.

J.B. HOLMES: 17, just aimed middle of the green, hit it out there pretty good, and it started turning a little bit towards the hole and bounced up. I thought I made my first one, just didn't hit it hard enough, and tapped in for birdie.

Q. 3 wood?

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah.

Q. How aware were you of what was going on with Ryan, particularly off the tee? His ball kind of ran through the green.

J.B. HOLMES: I didn't know if it hit a bird and stopped. Once I saw the people I thought he was probably in the water. I thought this is your chance to get some kind of lead, let's hit a good shot. I was back behind him so I got to hit first, and I hit a great shot.

Q. You seemed really focused until you had a six shot and seven shot lead. Head down, shot to shot, were you just trying to not get distracted by the crowd?

J.B. HOLMES: You can't get caught up in all this stuff. Nobody can focus with all these people. You're just playing golf. You just have to see the goal and go for it. You just zone everybody out. My dad could have been in the front row of every green and I probably wouldn't have saw him.

Q. That being said, once you had that lead, you were slapping hands with some fans.

J.B. HOLMES: When you've got a six shot lead. You can usually maneuver it in (smiling).

Q. They were pulling for you pretty big time.

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, they were pulling for me. Three holes, six shots was still a big lead, but I wanted to hit a good putt. And when I made the par putt on 16 I was a little bit more relieved. 17 is usually a fairly easy birdie. You just have to hit it out there over the bunker. I hit a great shot and made birdie.

Then 18, it was a little downwind and I looked at my caddie, and I said, "I'm going to hit this one really hard."

Q. You said your caddie said that you told him earlier in the week you were excited about being ranked.

J.B. HOLMES: I was 464 or something like that.

Q. From ranked to a victory, that's a pretty nice stretch.

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, that was neat. I thought that was pretty cool.

Q. I know it's not just about the money out here, but when you think of this amount of money you're going to win from this, is it pretty mind boggling because you haven't been doing this very long?

J.B. HOLMES: It's very mind boggling, but it's also good because I can help people. I can help my family if they were having some troubles and stuff like that. It's nice to be able to have that so you can help people if they need it.

Q. You've had your card now for a couple of years. The PLAYERS, PGA, World Golf Championship events. In terms of opening doors, the check is nice, but that's huge.

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, that's probably bigger than the check. Two years exempt on Tour, better tee times (laughter) I've gone off last every tournament. I would have took the win and no money because it opens up so much more stuff being a PGA TOUR winner. It's a huge step from just being a PGA TOUR player.

Q. How big is Campbellsville?

J.B. HOLMES: 20,000, 25,000. The town is about 10,000. The whole county is about 24.

Q. How far from Lexington?

J.B. HOLMES: Hour and 15 minutes, hour and a half.

Q. Which direction?

J.B. HOLMES: Southwest.

Q. When you were going to the Sony Open, did you get a chance to play the course here?

J.B. HOLMES: No, I stayed at Whisper Rock and played out there and had a great time with those guys. Everybody was saying they liked this course. And then I came out here and played the practice round, and I said this golf course sets up so good for me.

In the practice round I didn't feel like I played great. I hit a few good iron shots, but I hit my driver wild and I think I shot 5 or 6 under. It set up so good for me. And the bunkers being 315, stuff like that, where the air is a little thinner out here and I can carry that, and the fairways open up after that.

Just like 18, it's pretty tight up there, but if you get over that bunker you have 60 yards. It opened it up for me and gave other people were hitting 6 irons, 7 irons in, and I was hitting a lot of wedges.

Q. What about the drive on 11? After the bad drive on 10, what was your mindset going to the 11th tee because it's not an easy drive.

J.B. HOLMES: I just had to trust it. My caddie said you're swinging at it good, just trust it and hit a good shot. I said a little prayer and let it rip.

Q. On 18, your caddie said you really hadn't drilled one over the trap all day. You had a big lead. Must have felt good to just let it go.

J.B. HOLMES: I told him, I really like the finishing hole because if it's coming down to the end and I'm really close, and I have adrenaline pumping I can hit it as hard as I want. If I hook it in the stands, I still get a drop. It took the water out of play because even if I missed it I was going to get over the water. It freed it up for me just to hit it as hard as I wanted to, and I was going to be fine.

Q. You said you were struggling with your driver. Until about the 5th hole, you noticed your hands were too far back?

J.B. HOLMES: My hands were too far behind it. I was hitting them left and right and down the left again. I figured it out yesterday. I ended up getting a little behind it so I pressed forward and hit it pretty good the rest of the week.

Q. You seem kind of low key, but how would you describe your personality?

J.B. HOLMES: It's a lot different on the golf course than in real life. You get to know me a little more, some people might say I'm pretty funny (laughter). I just like hanging out with my friends, stuff like that. I feel like I've got a pretty good attitude.

Q. Your dad was saying in the final round, the 18th hole of Q school, you really didn't know where you were. Today were you cognizant of where everyone was? Obviously you were playing with those guys, but did you do a lot of that today?

J.B. HOLMES: It was a little different. There's so many signs out there it's hard not to. You can just be reading a putt and see where you're at. I looked at it and I noticed that me and Ryan were kind of going away and nobody else was really making a move. It helped starting out that I was three shots ahead of 4th, so I knew if I stayed around even or shot 1 under, they'd have to go pretty low. Everybody just kind of seemed to not really take off. So that helped. I wasn't making any putts, and finally on 10 made one and just took off from there.

Q. You reacted pretty emotionally when big putts fell. Have you always been that way?

J.B. HOLMES: With a bunch of people around, yeah (laughter). I mean, this is a huge tournament. When you get everybody cheering and everything like that, I got a little taste of that at the Walker Cup, it's exciting. You know, it's just a way to release a little bit of energy. You don't want to be too pumped up. This is a sport where you have to control your adrenaline a little bit or you'll blow a wedge over the green like I did on 2. You have to be aware of that and compensate for that.

Q. When J. J. hit your coin on 18, you just don't want to do anything dumb or

J.B. HOLMES: You don't want to screw up. I didn't even see it. Ryan is the one that saw it. You just double check. There's no reason to get DQ'd over something as big as that.

Q. Fans really seemed to embrace your style of play. You must feel that here, especially at 18.

J.B. HOLMES: That's fun. A lot of people like to see people hit it a long ways. Bubba Watson hits it long, John Daly, Tiger Woods. Everybody likes to see somebody hit it a long ways because a lot of the fans, they can't do that. Most of them, if they play, they've made a 30 footer or something like that. It's something they've done. But they can't hit it 340, 350, whatever.

Q. Did you watch Daly when he won at Crooked Stick in '91? You were probably about eight or nine then. Do you remember that at all?

J.B. HOLMES: Not really. I mean, I heard of it, but I don't remember.

Q. When you look at the start of this week and you kind of get used to these galleries, the size of them, and then playing in front of them every day and being in the lead every day, did it change from the first to the end the way you kind of used them, or were they just always zoned out?

J.B. HOLMES: Me? I was always zoned out. I had to play around the same. That's how I play when I get going. When I was playing in the U.S. Open my sophomore year, once I got going, I didn't see anybody. I focus on golf and zone everything else out. You don't need all those distractions. You're playing golf and people are there to watch. You've got to acknowledge them a little bit because they're there, but there's a time and

Q. Did you enjoy them a little bit on the last hole?

J.B. HOLMES: There's a time and place to acknowledge them and there's a time to focus and be doing what you need to be doing.

Q. Have you ever played with anybody who's longer than you?

J.B. HOLMES: Not consistently. I've played with somebody if I don't hit a great drive or something like that they'll hit one past me. But I've never played with anybody who consistently hits it past me.

Q. Or keep up?

J.B. HOLMES: My college team was really long. Let's see, I had one guy that was like 10 yards behind me and three guys that were like 15 yards behind me.

Q. That's all?

J.B. HOLMES: I mean, they all smoked it pretty good.

Q. Have you ever attended a PGA TOUR event as a spectator growing up?

J.B. HOLMES: I went to the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Q. Which one, '96 or 2000?

J.B. HOLMES: It was the one Brooks won.

Q. '96.

J.B. HOLMES: Actually, I went to both of them. I went to the other one for like a day. I worked the first one. I was a scorekeeper

Q. A sign boy?

J.B. HOLMES: A sign boy. No, it was actually like a scoreboard off to the side. When the groups would come through you just did the thing.

Q. You worked a hole?

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah. I followed Russ Cochran that week. I knew him, played with his son and had met him. He was winning going into the last day. That was real exciting.

Q. Have you ever gone to the Derby?

J.B. HOLMES: No.

Q. Do you watch much golf on TV?

J.B. HOLMES: Not a whole lot. I'll check and see what happens at the end and maybe turn on the last day. Most of the time I'm playing, if it's warm enough. I'm out there playing. I don't like to sit and watch it. I watch all the majors.

Q. Fair to say you're not a real student of the history of the game or all that?

J.B. HOLMES: You could say that.

Q. J. B., were you surprised or disappointed at all by the scene at 16 today? Obviously a different environment from Saturday.

J.B. HOLMES: I wasn't disappointed, anybody yelling in my back swing. It was a little bit quieter. Having a six shot lead, it might have been more fun with everybody there. The fans were great this week. I had a six shot lead. I didn't care (laughter).

Q. Are you or Bubba longer? Do you have any idea?

J.B. HOLMES: I have no idea.

Q. Have you ever hit alongside him on the range?

J.B. HOLMES: I've never played with Bubba. Bubba goes at it hard, though. He hits it a long way.

Q. Obviously driving the ball a long way is a wonderful thing. But were you straighter than usual this week? You didn't hit a lot of fairways but you only hit a couple that were off the planet.

J.B. HOLMES: No, actually when I hit my driver good, it's usually a little better than this.

Q. You're usually straighter?

J.B. HOLMES: I usually hit it pretty straight. Like I said, I had a little trouble earlier in the week. Probably from 5 on to today, that's probably more similar to how I hit it.

Q. From the 5th hole today?

J.B. HOLMES: From the 5th hole yesterday through today.

Q. So after you made the adjustment

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, that was similar.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Congratulations again. Thank you for coming.

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