PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 20, 2021

Derek Holmes

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning. Welcome back to the 2021 PGA Championship here at Kiawah Island, South Carolina. We're very happy to be here with Derek Holmes. Derek opened with a 79 today, 7-over par.

Derek, got off to a pretty good start, a couple of pars and a birdie. Maybe talk about how that felt and where it went from there.

DEREK HOLMES: Good to get off to a good start, bad swing on 4. Came back on 5, made birdie, and then just a couple bad swings and a bad swing out here. You can make 6, 7 pretty easily.

Q. Talk about the experience you had this week as a member of the Team of 20. Kind of going back to PGA Golf Club three weeks ago and earning your way here and how that whole process has been for you.

DEREK HOLMES: Yeah, it's been special. Went down to Port St. Lucie and played well for four days and got in. Coming here, it's been a dream come true playing with these guys and just trying to learn from them and what they do on a day-to-day and prepping for tournaments.

Q. Derek, obviously, you don't get to play a ton of golf as a store manager, but you come here and you want to be competitive. How do you keep that all in perspective?

DEREK HOLMES: I mean, you know you're going to have a bad swing, so just trying to stay positive, enjoy it. Maybe get lucky and have two good rounds. It's just taking the most out of it. Hopefully, if I get back here one day, I learn something, and then the next time is even better.

Q. Who is the person you enjoy informing the most that you earned your way in here? Who is the one call that just you were looking forward to dialing up?

DEREK HOLMES: It's kind of interesting. I originally booked a flight home on Wednesday from the club pro, thinking I wasn't going to make the first cut, let alone the second one. My wife ended up taking that 3:30 flight home on Wednesday, so calling her once they landed was pretty special.

Q. So you had to compare all these tournaments that you played to get here and the tournaments you played as a pro, not as a club pro, with this. Mentally and technically, what is the contrast?

DEREK HOLMES: It's so different. I got here Friday. I played nine holes Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and it was like, okay, it's just a golf course. It's big. It's tough, but it's just a golf course. Then all of a sudden, when there's people out here on Monday, you're like, oh, boy, it's a little bit different golf course.

It's fun. It's exhilarating, but you're still just hitting a golf ball, but a little different.

Q. I know you met your wife at Stout. She was on the golf team and you were on the men's team. When you play -- you probably don't play a lot because I know you have a young child, but how many strokes do you have to give her, and what kind of game does she have?

DEREK HOLMES: She used to be pretty good. She doesn't play much anymore with her taking care of the little one. She can shoot 85 when she wants to. When she was playing in a league she'd shoot in the 30s. But with not playing very much, I have to give her a few, but not too many.

Q. What was it like having your family following you today and Devin on the bag?

DEREK HOLMES: It's fun. It's a family affair. We're just going to enjoy it and have fun tomorrow and hopefully get back here again.

Q. Thank you for being with us.