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FBR OPEN

January 28, 2009

J.B. Holmes

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

MARK STEVENS: We'd like to welcome J.B. Holmes to the interview room. J.B. is a two-time winner of this event, the FBR Opens in 2006 and 2008, so obviously he has a good track record here. If you'd start out and just give some general comments on your thoughts coming into this and kind of how you feel about this tournament after winning two times.
J.B. HOLMES: I always love coming back here. I love the crowds. I love the golf course. It's great for me, and it's nice for the West Coast not having to play on some poa annua greens. They always have nice greens here, and like I said, the crowds are always fun to be around. It's just good memories for me here, so I really enjoy coming back.

Q. How much different is it defending a title as opposed to not defending one?
J.B. HOLMES: It's a little different. You know, just more of the stuff early in the week that you have to do a little bit is probably the most different. You still have good memories coming in so you should feed off that when the tournament starts. You know, the first time I didn't defend very well, and it was maybe a little bit different experience, but I've done it before, so now I should be adjusted and just go with it. It's just another tournament.

Q. And how much did the Ryder Cup -- what did it do for you?
J.B. HOLMES: It's a great confidence builder. If you can play under that type of pressure, I mean, you're not going to get any more pressure than you got at the Ryder Cup. It proves to myself that I can do it under almost any circumstances and play well. So it's just a confidence builder to know that you can perform under that type of pressure.

Q. When Calc was in a few minutes ago, he said that the course was in very good shape but he thought the conditions might be a little tougher than they have been sometimes in the past here. What did you think?
J.B. HOLMES: I would agree with that. It's in great shape. I think it might play a little tougher than it has in the past. We'll just see. They've narrowed the fairways up a little bit and the rough is pretty thick. It's not real tall but it's pretty thick in spots and the greens are firm and fast. Yeah, a little bit tougher, but if you hit the ball good around here, you can still definitely score.

Q. What did you do on 18 today? Did you blast it all the way over?
J.B. HOLMES: It was playing long today. I pulled it a little bit. I was in the rough, but I think I still got it over, barely.

Q. What was your impression of the stadium on 16?
J.B. HOLMES: I like it. I think it would be a good improvement. Last year was the first time I really thought that maybe the fans got a little out of hand on Saturday on that hill right there, and they were obviously having a good time, but Jonathan Byrd was trying to putt and there was a few of them that were actually trying to mess him up. I thought that was a little -- they shouldn't be doing that.
But I think it looks good, and I think it'll definitely be fun. You'll still got a lot of people right over there.

Q. Does it take a certain mentality knowing what can happen on that hole? Do you have to have a different mentality?
J.B. HOLMES: I think it's fun. There's not very many chances in a golfing career that you get to play in like a stadium-type atmosphere. Football players and basketball players do it every day, but you don't get to do that in golf, so I think it's a neat hole to get to do that, and the crowds there are usually very well-behaved. With that many people around it's not going to be dead silent, but people are having a good time and usually paying attention, so it's usually a good crowd and very fun to play that hole.
Q. It's been said that you need to acknowledge them more than anything else. If you acknowledge the crowd, they tend to love you more than if you don't.
J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, I'd say that. Just walk in, wave. I mean, you don't have to run over to the crowd and crowd surf or anything, but just a wave at them when they're doing a chant or something like that. Just acknowledge them, yeah.

Q. Would you say that playing in front of these crowds is good preparation for playing in front of the Ryder Cup crowds?
J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, but it's different. It's different.
Q. How so?
J.B. HOLMES: You know, it's really just hard to explain the Ryder Cup experience, just getting to play for your country. It's a different atmosphere altogether. I guess it's more in a crowd you have individuals that have favorite players and they're rooting for that player and they'll clap for you, but when you're on home soil in a Ryder Cup they're not rooting for individuals, they're rooting for the team, so I guess everybody is rooting for you. I guess that would be what's a little bit different.

Q. Could you give us kind of an update on the state of your game, how you've been playing this year up to this point?
J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, I'm hitting it pretty good. I didn't putt too good in Hawai'i. That was really my biggest downfall. But I worked on it this week. I'm definitely putting better, and I'm hitting the ball pretty good. Hopefully I'll have a good finish this week.

Q. What events did you play other than the Mercedes?
J.B. HOLMES: I played the two in Hawai'i, and that was it.

Q. Who do you like in the Super Bowl this weekend?
J.B. HOLMES: I would like to see the Cardinals win. I had Fitzgerald on my fantasy team all year, so I've kind of been keeping up with them. They've been fun to watch, so I'm rooting for them.
MARK STEVENS: Thank you very much for being here, J.B.

End of FastScripts

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