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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARDMarch 25, 2010J.B. HolmesORLANDO, FLORIDA JOHN BUSH: We would like to welcome J.B. Holmes into the interview room after a bogey-free 66. Great start with the birdie on No. 10 and eagle on 12. Just comment on your day overall. J.B. HOLMES: Overall it was a great day. I hit the ball well. I think I hit 17 greens, and I putted pretty well, too. I made a couple of long putts, and that definitely helped. But got off to a good start, like you said and made -- actually thought I hit a pretty good shot and got a little divot with my wedge and went long but I got on the second tier and made the putt coming down and that was a great start to be able to make a 30-footer right off the bat. JOHN BUSH: Your 17th round at Bay Hill, your third in the 60s, so I guess the course changes are sitting pretty well with you. J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, I think they are great. Everything they did usually when somebody redoes the golf course there's one change you really don't like but I think they did a phenomenal job on everything. You know, they had some nice chipping areas and softened some greens where they need to soften them, moved a few tee boxes. I think they did a great job, put the par 5s back to be able to play like a par 5. I think they did a great job. The golf course is playing like how it was designed to play. Q. You mentioned making the long putts helping out, and I know you've been working with Stockton for a while, has some of that stuff started to click in? Or was it something that changed pretty quick? J.B. HOLMES: No, it clicked right off the bat. It was real quick. I've just been hitting the ball so bad; I had to make a 30-footer to make a birdie, and this was the first -- really, one of the few rounds I actually hit the ball well all day with the driver and the irons. So maybe the only round this year. So just continue to putt like I have; if I start hitting the ball like I know I can, I can definitely start putting up some good number. Q. Have you been noticing different club selections because of the changes, different clubs that in the past? J.B. HOLMES: Maybe a five on certain scenarios but not a ton. It depends on the weather. I mean, 15, I'm going to probably hit 3-wood off that tee if it's not into the wind; a couple, but not really anything that big. Probably 5, if the wind is not dead into, the bunkers carry like 302, so maybe that hole. And today, it was so far into the wind it didn't matter. But if it's not into the wind that might be a hole where I can hit driver and maybe get it down in front of the green. Q. One of the noticeable changes that Mr. Palmer tried to do with the course was seeing the hole more clearly, visibility from the tee. Is that something that as soon as you walk up, you notice the difference and that you can see much more? J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, I think he -- I think all of the changes they did, it made it a lot better. It made the fairways, some fairways wider where they need to be wider and they narrowed some stuff that needed to be narrowed. They did a great job. Like I said, there's not a single change that I thought was bad or, you know, they could have done this different. They brought a few bunkers in on should shorter par 4s, but it's a par 4; it's okay to make the shot a little bit tighter. I thought all the changes were great. Q. What do you attribute finally a solid 18-hole ball-striking round to? Have you made some changes? J.B. HOLMES: I got a message from Killen. He helped me a little bit the last round, I asked him to look at me real quick and I was just too far inside. Changed that a little bit. Q. Taking it away? J.B. HOLMES: I was too far inside and had to -- I brought it back out a little bit. Q. Have you had to take any abuse from what happened at the Tavistock Cup? J.B. HOLMES: No, it wasn't that -- everybody is making it a big deal. The match was over. I 3-putted that hole, that putt us three back with two to play with Ian and Rose and they were playing great. They could have gave me a ten-shot penalty there. It wouldn't have mattered. I was frustrated that we had lost three shots on a hole that they made eagle and we made bogey and just picked it up. It's kind of a weird format where you're picking up a lot of balls all day. And you know, might have bothered me or could have been a big deal if it actually would have mattered, but we would have had to gone like double-eagle, birdie, to even tie them or something. The match was over at that point. Q. Safe to say, though, your concentration level today is considerably higher? J.B. HOLMES: I never picked a ball up on a TOUR event, so I wasn't worried about that. (Laughter). Q. It's been said forever that when you're putting well, you can't wait to get to the green; we saw with Mickelson's body language late last year. Where are you with that? Was there some dread before and now there's eager anticipation? J.B. HOLMES: I was terrified before. Yeah, now I feel like I can score when I get on the ground and I feel like I can hit the ball two feet to make a birdie. I feel like I can hit it 15 feet left of the flag. I'm more surprised now it's not going in, even on 30-footers when I do make it. I feel great with the putter in my hand. I feel more confident. It feels easier. You know, I'm not as mechanical. I'm just going it more with my body and feel and touch, and it's just easier. Q. Are there any corners here at Bay Hill that in previous years you used to be able to cut but now you can't? J.B. HOLMES: I mean, 15, that was a good move. It makes that hole play like it's supposed to. But other than that, not really. I mean a lot of it depends on wind. Like I said on 5 or 6, whichever one, I guess it's 5, they had that all rough down there before, and so it made it even when you did have downwind, you didn't want to go for it because the rough was so thick. I never understood why they just stop the fairway there. It was pretty narrow up there, and it's hard enough to hit it 300 straight. So somebody is able to hit it 300 straight at an area, you shouldn't penalize them. I thought it was a good change. And there are some trees there to the right, so if you don't hit it just right and you hit it a little right, it gets over in those trees, you can be in trouble. It's kind of a risk/reward shot, but I think it was a good change. Q. What did the guys at Cobra tell you about the sale and is that going to mean anything? J.B. HOLMES: I found out the same day you guys did. The people that were -- the Titleist truck and the people, the Cobra guys that take care of everything are still taking care of all the TOUR players and everything like that. You know, I've got a contract with them, and they bought a company I'm sure not to run it into the ground, they bought the company to expand it and take it somewhere. So I'm just playing golf. I'm not too worried about it. JOHN BUSH: Let's go through the card real quick, the birdie on No. 10. J.B. HOLMES: Hit a 3-wood off the tee, a good 3-wood and a wedge a little bit long, and made it, probably a 30 feet, 35 feet putt. Eagle on 12, I hit a good drive down the middle and 5-iron just short of the green, rolled up on the front and probably made -- I think it was probably 25 feet eagle putt. Birdie on 5, the par 4. I hit 3-wood off the tee into the wind. I pulled a little bit of an 8-iron and I made probably a 25, 30 -foot putt for birdie. No. 6, I hit a good drive. I hit a good 3-iron in there to about 30 feet and ran it right over the edge and made a 3-footer for birdie. 9, I hit it a little bit right in the rough and hit an 8-iron up there to probably 12 feet and I made that. JOHN BUSH: J.B., thanks for coming by. End of FastScripts |
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