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AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AMFebruary 6, 2008J.B. HolmesPEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA STEWART MOORE: We'd like to welcome last week's winner J.B. Holmes to the interview room here at the AT&T National Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Two wins on TOUR now. You're still pretty young out here, and that was about as exciting as it gets, going toe-to-toe with Phil Mickelson last week. Just sum that up. J.B. HOLMES: I can't think of a better way to win, just so exciting, having to make birdie on the last hole to get to a playoff. To be able to do that and be able to beat one of the elite players in the world in the playoff is an unbelievable feeling. You know, it's just -- I want to be able to get in that situation and be able to come through, so it was a lot of fun. STEWART MOORE: Obviously two wins on that golf course. What is it about Scottsdale that just suits your eye? J.B. HOLMES: It just suits my eye. Off the tee, I seem to putt well there and usually chip well there. You know, it just snuck up on me, what can I say. I just play well there. Q. (Inaudible.) J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, just keep things going. Last year it was like my third or fourth event in a row, and I didn't plan on playing it to start with. Maybe hindsight I should have played it, but FBR is my second one out this year. I skipped the Hope, so I planned on playing this one so I changed my schedule. Q. Did last year factor into it? J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, I always liked these golf courses, so last year I played. The rounds are a little bit slow, but I like the golf courses. It's always fun to come out here and play. It doesn't get any prettier than this, so might as welcome out. Q. Comment on the crowds at the FBR if you would. It seems as though with your two wins, you play to the crowd pretty good? J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, I like the crowd. I like pressure. It's an amazing atmosphere that you get because you don't get that anywhere else. Especially the 16th hole is like the only chance a golfer really has to make the last-second shot on a basketball court with thousands of people around him. That's the only chance you really get to hit a shot like that. That's always fun. But it was just a different experience. It kind of has a major-type feel to it with all the people there. It's just a lot of fun. Q. What's the farthest you've ever driven it, and do you enjoy your reputation as a long hitter, and are other players intimidated by that? J.B. HOLMES: I don't know how far is the longest one I've had. I've hit one 427 or 430 or something like that last year. Just regular conditions, probably 380 or 370, maybe a little bit firm fairways and just normal conditions. Yeah, I mean, long ball reputation, that's always good. Crowds like to see that, so it's definitely good for me to be recognized that way. Sometimes the long ball hitters, they just hit it a long ways and they can't do anything else. I don't like that part that comes with it, but you have time -- if you keep winning and play well and show that you have a short game, that goes away. What was the last one? Q. Are there any other players that you play with that are intimidated because you're driving it 30 or 40 yards past them? J.B. HOLMES: You know, at this level I think it's maybe hard to intimidate some people. You'd probably better ask them. I mean, maybe a little bit. If you're 40 yards past somebody, that could be a little bit intimidating. Like I said, different players. Some people it could affect and some people would have no effect at all. It just depends on person to person. Q. Are you playing Riviera? J.B. HOLMES: Yes, I am. Q. Talk about how your game suits that course. J.B. HOLMES: I played there once my first year, and I don't really remember a ton about the golf course. I remember it set up pretty good for me. The rough was pretty tall when I played then, and we had some rain. That was still some of the first experiences I had with poa annua greens so I was still a little iffy on those. I'm getting a little better on those. It's going to take a little bit longer to get used to. It sets up pretty good for me. I'm just going to go out there and play. I made the cut my first year. I didn't play particularly well but I made the cut so I'll try to improve on that. Q. A lot of people talk about the mental side of the game these days. Is there any transition and thought that you go through from regulation play into a playoff situation? J.B. HOLMES: You've just got to beat one guy now instead of the rest of the field, so it's all on one shot. You've got to come through. You can be a little more aggressive. If you hit it in the bunker or make double, then it's just over. So you've got to step up and you've got to hit the shot, and it's just -- you have to be a more aggressive person out there, and that's when you can apply more pressure to the other person. That's when hitting it 30 or 40 yards by them would mean more than in a regular situation. If they're back there hitting 8-iron or whatever and you're hitting flip wedge, they've got to feel like they've got to hit a pretty good shot. Q. Do you find that the long drive portion of your game is neutralized on the courses out here, or do you find there are still places where you can just get up and rip it? J.B. HOLMES: On TOUR? Q. Here at the AT&T. J.B. HOLMES: It's usually wet here every year so it's all carry, so I think that benefits me, being able to carry the ball further. On these uphill holes and stuff like that, I'm still going to have shorter irons than most people. The people that hit the ball really low or that plan on roll to get their yardage, it's a lot tougher on them. I mostly carry it anyways, so I think that benefits me. Q. Did you have any heroes, long-ball heroes, or anybody you looked up to like a Daly or something like that? J.B. HOLMES: No, my favorite player growing up was Nicklaus. He hit it pretty far (laughter). Not really somebody hitting it really long. I have played golf with John and John is a good guy, I like John a lot. It was cool to see him win the PGA and the British when he did. I root for him just like everybody else. Easily my favorite player growing up was Nicklaus. Q. Were you surprised at all on the 18th tee at Phoenix, Phil has got a reputation for being a long ball hitter and loves to hit it a long ways, and he got up and hit a 3-wood. Were you surprised at all and did that make you think about your strategy? J.B. HOLMES: No, I was hitting driver no matter what. It was surprising for me. I thought he would hit driver. But when he hit 3-wood, I was excited about that, too, because I knew that was just going to put me that much further ahead of him. But he killed that 3-wood. He hit it like 300 yards, so he took a rip at it and hit it right down the middle, stepped up and hit a great shot. Yeah, I was a little surprised. He sat in the clubhouse, maybe he felt -- I don't know why. But that's how he played in regulation, and he said he wanted to stick to his game plan. He's the second best player in the world and you've got to -- he's been there before, he knows what he's doing. You know, he thought he made the putt on me. He hit a great putt and it just rolled over the edge. Q. Your drive there on the playoff hole, had you taken that line previously, and -- J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, I was trying to hit it there the first time, I just pulled it a little bit. But that was kind of my aiming area right there. The wind was kind of a little bit of a crosswind that day and the ball was carrying pretty good. On that hole I just got to hit it further than 320 yards. I can hit it way left or way right and it's still okay. So the main goal there to just so get it past that bunker. And in the playoff I just ripped it right where I was aiming, so I just hit it perfect. Q. I apologize if this was asked right before I came in, but you had some time between your wins; you didn't play quite as well. What got you off track a little bit? Was it the lifestyle? Or what got you back on track and when? J.B. HOLMES: You know, coming straight out of college like I did, it's a huge life change from hanging out with your friends all the time and traveling with the team and stuff like that to traveling by yourself, being gone six months a year and going to a new place every day. You know, I've never been here, drop off, okay, have fun, find where you're going. So that was tough for me to adjust to at the beginning. That first year, it happened so quick, I didn't have a place to live, still living with my parents. And then the next year I got a little bit more adjusted, got a place in Orlando but was still kind of running around everywhere, going home to see people and still wasn't solid at one place. I got married this fall, and I'm just more settled in my life in general, getting used to -- kind of know where you want to play, got a schedule lined up, and just knowing what you want to do. Just came out this year more relaxed and more ready to play than I have in the other two previous years. Q. Have there been any big changes in any parts of your game? J.B. HOLMES: I've worked really hard on my wedge play and my bunker play and my putting this winter, this off-season. No major swing changes or anything, but I really practiced hard and tried to change my wedge swing a little bit. So that's starting to pay off for me. Q. Why did you pick Orlando, just curious? Because everyone lived there? J.B. HOLMES: It's got good weather, it's got a good airport, a little bit younger city, plenty of golf courses around there, so that was just kind of how I went about it. I wanted to go somewhere in Florida and looked around, and that's just kind of where I ended up. Q. Where do you play? J.B. HOLMES: Isleworth. That was another big reason. I played there in college in some tournaments, great facilities and everything, so I was hoping to be able to get a membership there, and I was able to do it. Q. Do you play it all the way back, 8,000 yards or whatever it is? J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, play the tips on it. Q. Best score? J.B. HOLMES: 66, 67, something like that. Q. Have you ever played with Tiger there? J.B. HOLMES: No, I haven't. I haven't played with Tiger. I've seen him there a few times on the range and stuff, but I haven't had a chance to play with him yet. Q. That 59 he shot there back in '97, I think, that couldn't have been from all the way back, right? J.B. HOLMES: It probably was, but I think they've changed the course a whole lot. I don't think they liked him shooting 59 on it. I think they moved the tees back quite a bit. That's what I've heard. I hadn't played the golf course before then, but I heard they made a lot of changes, but I'm sure it was from the back whenever it was. Q. I apologize for coming in late. Did anyone ask you about Valhalla? J.B. HOLMES: No, not yet. What about it? Q. I saw something in the transcript last week that you played it a lot. What occasions? J.B. HOLMES: In college I played there a whole lot. Q. Did you use it a lot when you were at Kentucky? J.B. HOLMES: The team usually went out there maybe two or three times a year to play, and then I have a friend who's a member out there, and he brought me out to play, and I've probably been around it 20, 25 times. But I really enjoy playing there every time I go out there, and I really like the golf course, and I've played it a couple times since they've had it redone. It isn't like my home golf course or anything, but I've played it quite a bit. Q. What's the stupidest thing you've done out there with your length. J.B. HOLMES: I hit pitching wedge into 18 one time, par-5. Q. Second shot? J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, second shot. Q. How big would it be to make the Ryder Cup team, being from Kentucky? J.B. HOLMES: You know, that's my main goal this year. That would be just awesome. I don't know how many people even have the opportunity to play on Ryder Cup team, much less in their home state. That would just be a dream come true for me, so I'm really working hard, and hopefully I make that team. Q. What do you do on 13 there? J.B. HOLMES: The island green? I just hit 4-iron off the tee or something and wedge in. Q. You can't get there? J.B. HOLMES: I can get there, but it's an island green. I think I've hit it on once, but that would be something maybe if they're playing the alternate shot or two people tee off or straight -- maybe go for it, but it's not really -- Q. You have hit that green? J.B. HOLMES: I think I did once. I might have hit 15 balls. It's a tough shot. Q. You said that your carry helps you out on these wet fairways a little bit, but what else is it about the courses out here? You said you kind of struggled previously with poa annua greens. What is it about the courses out here that you like that you think suit your game? J.B. HOLMES: I've played the Callaway Pro-Am out here when I was a first-time pro. I played well out here. I like these golf courses. I play well. If they can get me an advantage, carry the ball further, have shorter irons into it, the greens hold. I don't think anybody is going to make a whole bunch of putts out here, so if you get it close to the hole, that gives you a big advantage, and if you're a lot closer starting out you can hit a 7-iron a lot closer than you can hit a 4-iron. I think that's the biggest advantage for me. Q. Was there a downside at all to winning so soon coming out as a rookie? J.B. HOLMES: It's never a bad thing to win, but a lot of media -- maybe the media pressure, maybe I wasn't quite ready for that as I thought I was. The way I won, you just get a lot of attention. It's such a big change from being a good college player to nobody has heard of you to being pro, then won Q-school. Okay, that's great, I got my card, nobody ever heard of you on the TOUR because you just started and then you win and they're talking about you're going to be on the Ryder Cup team. From nothing to expectations up here so quickly, you know, and then having to adjust to the traveling and just everything kind of balled up at once is -- like I said, winning is not ever a problem. But that's how it happened for me, and I wouldn't change how it worked, and I learned a lot of stuff from it. Q. You seemed to have a pretty good set of blinders on, though. In terms of blocking everything out, did you have a hard time with that? Was that hard to ignore? J.B. HOLMES: You know, I didn't play well, obviously. So I didn't feel like it affected me that much, but I didn't play well. So just the traveling probably got me more than anything than the media. I didn't mind the media as much, but like I said, I didn't play, so maybe it affected me more than I felt like it did. Q. Can you elaborate a little bit more on that media? I remember after you won when you came out to Riviera and did a press conference, and you were pretty relaxed, pretty amiable with everybody there. Is there maybe a contrast from that to when you weren't playing as well and then the lack of attention that comes along with that? Anything in there? Because you were so relaxed, as you are even today. J.B. HOLMES: I enjoy the media. It's not like I dislike it. I'm not saying that. I don't really understand the question. Q. Was there that much more in terms of time demands on you? J.B. HOLMES: Probably more just the spotlight and people expecting. Maybe the expectation is a more -- I expect more out of me than anybody else does. Everybody else expects me to do this, and then my expectations are up there. You're playing against the best players in the world every week, you're not just going to go out and win by seven shots every time you go out and play. It happened so quickly to me in my third tournament, I just thought I was going to be able to go out there and play and win two or three more times. And I put added pressure on myself, added pressure from other people expecting me to play well, and you put that much pressure on yourself, this game is hard enough as it is. I think I just put a little too much pressure instead of just relaxing and playing. I was doing as well as I can, I just put a little too much pressure on myself. Q. What aspect of your game did putting too much pressure on yourself -- where did it manifest itself mostly, which particular part? J.B. HOLMES: My putting and wedge play. It was really good that week I won Phoenix, but in general my wedge play wasn't as good as it needed to be. So I started working on that, and it's just now starting to reap the benefits out of my wedge play. It's gotten a lot better. I had to change some stuff on that. It was a little bit difficult for me to change, but I was able to do it and that's probably the biggest thing. My bunker play wasn't great. I've improved on that. Mainly just inside 120 yards basically. My irons were always pretty good, my tee ball is pretty good. So just the short game, that's where all these guys are good. That's where you win tournaments at, in that area. I had a week where I was really good in that area. I made a lot of putts like that, but you can't hope to just have that happen every time. You've got to improve on those areas and get better, and that's what I've been working on. Q. TV folks were saying some pretty good stuff about your pre-shot routine last week. Were you ever conscious of that? J.B. HOLMES: A little bit. I got into that -- I know how I got into that, really. I don't like it. It starts out -- I just kind of go back to old routine. I'm working on that and trying to quicken that up and just in pressure situations kind of reverted back to it a little bit. Yeah, I'm working on that. It's a little bit long, but I won (laughter). So, I mean, if I've got to take that long to do it and win, that's fine with me. I understand I need to be a little bit quicker and I'm trying to work on that, but it worked -- Q. Does it have to be quicker? J.B. HOLMES: It doesn't have to be quicker. I'd kind of like to be quicker. But I'm just trying to get into the shot is what it is, and sometimes you can't just always step right into it and be into it. I'm trying to visualize my shot, and sometimes it just takes a little bit longer than other times. That's how it is right now. Q. Is that something you've been doing since high school, since college? J.B. HOLMES: Probably got into it probably in college, and it's kind of maybe gotten a little bit longer through time. But college and playing for a million dollars or having 30,000 or 40,000 people looking at you, if you do mess up or choke you don't want to have to read about it in the newspapers and everything the next day. There's a lot more aspects to pro golf than there is to amateur golf. STEWART MOORE: J.B., congratulations on last week. Best of luck this week. Thanks for coming in. End of FastScripts |
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