Holmes wins Houston Open

J B Holmes shot a brilliant 64 to win the Houston Open

2005
Holmes-847-ScottHalleran-PGATour

 

Edited by Anand Datla

 

April 06, 2015: J.B. Holmes teed off 99 minutes before Sunday’s final group at the Shell Houston Open. He was the last man left at the Golf Club of Houston, though. Holmes shot a final-round 64 to make up a six-shot deficit and win his fourth PGA TOUR title. He finished at 16-under 272 after firing Sunday’s low score. He had to wait for 11 groups to finish — and watch dramatic finishes by Johnson Wagner and Jordan Spieth — before beating them in a playoff.

 

“I didn’t focus on the results at any point in the round,” said Holmes, who turns 33 on April 26. “I was just trying to do the best I could do each hole and at the end of the round, then you add it up. I didn’t tee off expecting to win today, but you know, it’s a nice surprise.”

 

Holmes moved to No. 3 in the FedExCup. He has finished in the top six in half of his previous six starts, the win coming after runners-up at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship and Farmers Insurance Open, where Jason Day won a four-man playoff. Holmes will make his second Masters appearance next week; he finished T25 in his debut in 2008.

 

Holmes’ previous win came at the 2013 Wells Fargo Championship. That victory ended a five-year drought. He also won the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2006 and 2008. Holmes said thoughts about 59 didn’t cross his mind, but that rare score was within reach Sunday. He made birdie on nine of his first 12 holes and had two par-5s left to play. He made one bogey and five pars over his final six holes, though.

 

Wagner and Spieth were two shots back when Holmes finished. They caught him, but couldn’t keep up in the playoff. Wagner, playing in the second-to-last group, leapt in the air after making a 25-foot birdie putt at 18; it was one of just three birdies on the hole Sunday. Spieth, playing in the final group, rolled in a 12-foot par putt on that same green after hitting his approach shot wide right.

 

The long, water-lined 18th was used on both playoff holes. Spieth made bogey the first time, then Wagner three-putted on their second tour of the Golf Club of Houston’s tough finishing hole. Holmes won after Wagner missed a 6-foot par putt. Holmes credited his good play this season to strong mental focus. He closes his eyes for several seconds as he stands behind his ball.

 

Spieth couldn’t ask for much more as the Masters approaches. He’s finished no worse than second in his past three PGA TOUR starts. He won the Valspar Championship and was runner-up at the Shell Houston Open and last week’s Valero Texas Open. He played in the final group in all three events.

 

“I feel as prepared as I think I could be,” said Spieth, who was runner-up last year in his Masters debut. “I felt more and more comfortable with more and more pressure, and that gives me a lot of confidence going into Augusta, where you probably have the most pressure anywhere.”

 

Spieth is No. 2 in the FedExCup. He started Sunday with a one-shot lead and shot 70 to tie for the lead. He almost earned his first victory in his home state, but a bogey on the first playoff hole ended his chances. Spieth thought he heard an iPhone camera click in his backswing during his greenside bunker shot on the first extra hole. He chunked the shot.

 

“I don’t know if it was me or it actually happened,” Spieth said of the sound in his backswing. “Either way, I still should be able to get down through the sand there. No excuse.”

 

Spieth was in the greenside bunker after hitting his approach shot from an awkward lie. He thought his tee shot would end up safely in the fairway, but the ball bounced left and rolled onto a slope just above the water left of the 18th fairway.

 

Spieth went from the pursued to the pursuer Sunday after shooting even-par 36 on his front nine. When Holmes finished his round, Spieth was two strokes back and on the 12th hole. Spieth quickly responded with consecutive birdies at Nos. 13 and 14, including a 25-foot birdie putt at the latter, to close the deficit.

 

He clinched his playoff spot with an 11-foot par putt at the final hole after hitting his approach shot right of the green. He said he’ll have to work on his long-irons before the Masters starts, but has confidence in his short game as he enters arguably the toughest test of a player’s aptitude around the greens.

 

“To be able to get up-and-down again, just like (Valspar), gives me a lot of confidence on the greens, and that’s obviously the most important piece next week,” he said. “But I’m going to need to strike the ball a little better to have a chance to win.”

 

Republished from PGA Tour website

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