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SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA (TICKER) -- J.B. Holmes had to wait a while to post
his second PGA Tour victory, but it turned out to be well worth it.
Holmes birdied the 18th hole twice in the span of 20 minutes to win the FBR Open on Sunday.
Looking for his first victory since winning here as a rookie in 2006,
Holmes birdied 18 to force a playoff with Phil Mickelson and then
drained a six-footer for birdie on the first playoff hole to record his
second career title.
"I didn't have my best stuff today, but I fought and I hung in there
and I made it when I needed to," Holmes said. "I came through and I
won. I didn't give up. I played hard and when I needed to make it, I
did."
Holmes had a three-shot lead midway through the final round of the $6
million event but needed a birdie on the final hole of regulation to
finish at 14-under.
Holmes and Mickelson headed back to 18 to start the playoff and both
players found the middle of the fairway off the tee. Mickelson's 3-wood
left him 137 yards to the hole while Holmes crushed a 355-yard drive
and had 73 yards to the flag.
"I smoked it. I thought it actually went further than it went. I just
absolutely killed it, and it was on a rope," Holmes said. "No doubt in
my mind it was over the bunker and up there."
It was an aggressive approach by Holmes, who had bouts with indecision
earlier in his final round. It would have been understandable if he had
second thoughts after seeing Mickelson stripe one down the fairway, but
Holmes was thinking otherwise.
"It's match play in a playoff. I don't have to beat the whole
tournament, I've just got to beat him. You know, it's all or nothing,
so I just buckled down," Holmes said. "No, I felt like I had the
advantage. I could hit over the bunker, and he had been sitting in the
clubhouse. I just walked off, I was loose, I was ready. The hole favors
me, no reason I shouldn't win. That's how I went into it."
Mickelson pulled his approach but was still on the green, leaving
himself 28 feet for birdie. Closer but facing a difficult shot on a
downslope, Holmes hit a perfect sand wedge that bounced on the edge of
the green and stopped six feet from the hole.
"It was above my feet a little bit. If it had been about six or seven
yards further it would have been tougher. But I hit it perfect, just
where I wanted to," Holmes said. "I only had like 72 yards to the flag
and 60 front or something, or 64. I was just trying to land it on the
front, because on a downhill slope it's hard to get it to spin right
there."
After Mickelson slid his putt past the hole, Holmes left no doubt and
drained his right in the heart of the cup to earn the win and
$1,080,000.
Mickelson started the day four-shots back and caught Holmes with a 4-under 67. Holmes had four birdies and four bogeys for a 71.
"It was a perfect day for guys to make up ground because it was not
easy. There were some tough pins," Mickelson said. "There was a little
bit of cold, a little bit of wind, so it was harder to make birdies. It
was harder for the leaders to take off and separate themselves. So it
gave guys who were behind an opportunity if they could make a few
birdies here and there to move up."
Holmes becomes the first player to win the same event for his first two
victories on the PGA Tour since Vaughn Taylor when he won the 2004 and
2005 Reno Tahoe Open. Before Taylor, Brian Henninger won the 1994 and
1999 Southern Farm Bureau Classic.
Holmes entered Sunday with only the second 54-hole lead of his career,
the first coming when he won by seven shots here two years ago.
Sunday's showdown between Holmes and Mickelson was the first playoff
here since Mickelson defeated Justin Leonard in 1996. It was Holmes'
first career playoff appearance, while Mickelson falls to 7-3 in extra
sessions.
In addition to his 32 PGA Tour victories, Phil Mickelson has now recorded 21 runner-up finishes.
"Starting the day I would have gladly taken getting into a playoff, but
I've got to give J.B. a lot of credit for birdieing the last hole and
birdieing again to get in the playoff. That's pretty impressive golf,"
Mickelson said. "It's disappointing because this tournament has got a
special place in my heart, and I love playing here. I love coming out
and doing well, and I would have loved to have won it again. But I'm
happy for J.B. I think he's a credit and a talent for American golf."
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