J.B. Holmes
J.B. Holmes was sitting in his house in Orlando when he got the call from his agent about 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
Tim Clark had withdrawn and Holmes was in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. So two airline flights — and one lengthy delay later — Holmes got to his hotel room in this Tucson suburb at 1 a.m. MT.
In what could best be described as a four-and-a-half hour nap later, Holmes was on the practice tee preparing for his match with Camilo Villegas. And on a course he had never seen, no less.
Holmes responded extremely well, though. He never trailed in beating Villegas 4 and 2, then took the opportunity to play the last two holes before heading to the interview room.
"I woke up and didn’t feel too bad," Holmes reported. "I went out and knew it wasn’t going to be an all day thing. I knew I could take a nap.
"I’m kind of hitting a wall now. I’m pretty tired now. You get adrenaline going just being excited. The last two hour holes I was pretty tired playing. Didn’t hit that many good shots."
Holmes has been playing well this year with a tie for fifth in Phoenix and top-15s in his next two starts. But he had slipped to No. 66 in the world when the field for the Accenture Match Play Championship was finalized two weeks ago, and Holmes had resigned himself to a week off.
So the fact that he even got to play at Dove Mountain in the first place was a bonus.
"I was just happy to be in," said Holmes, adding he could have done with a little more shut-eye. "It was much better than sitting at home for sure. I was just happy to be here. I was just hoping I could get in. I had been playing well and felt like I could do well here.”
Holmes had played in one other Accenture Match Play Championship, but it was held about a mile away at the Gallery Golf Club. He faced Tiger Woods in the first match and nearly pulled off the upset before losing 1 down.
“It’s a golf course that you would like to have seen before," said Holmes, who unleashed a 372-yard drive on the 13th hole Wednesday. "There is some spots you want to be and some spots you don’t want to be. Luckily today, I didn’t hit it in too many spots you didn’t want to be.
"… The greens are different. There’s a lot of little bitty quadrants on them. All in all it’s a pretty good course, there. They can put some difficult pins out there if they want to."
Both of Holmes’ PGA TOUR victories came on a desert course at TPC Scottsdale. The Kentuckian said he’s comfortable with the adjustments needed in terms of the altitude and how it affects the ball flight.
"I don’t know, maybe just because of the adjustment of the yardages," Holmes said. "It’s not exact. It’s a little bit more feel; I think I need to hit this. I’m pretty good at that.
"A couple of times I clubbed down today, I was hitting on a par 5 … We talked about a 7(-iron) and I just told my caddie I think it’s an 8. Then I hit an 8 and I flew right on to the flag. If I had hit a 7 it might have went over the green.
"I just feel like in the percentage the ball is travelling a little bit farther, a little bit shorter. I’m usually pretty good at just feeling it."
