Goffblog regular Holmes wins FBR by 7

Last Year John Holmes was living through one final Kentucky winter as a graduating senior at the University of Kentucky. In less than a year since the 2005 winter ended, Holmes has been busy getting on with his plans to be a force on the PGA Tour. I wonder if he will head over to the Monterey Peninsula to try out a few courses on the coast. Pebble Beach’s bumpy greens in February keep Woods away, but I bet Holmes will gut it out and show up at the AT&T. J.B. Holmes won Q-School with six rounds in the sixties. He showed up at the Sony to make his pro debut amid the Spectacle of Wie. Sony and Nike dropped $10M on Wie, while the guy who blitzed Q-School got a modest “six figure deal” with Acushnet’s lesser-known brand “Cobra Golf.” Holmes got around 20 seconds of coverage in his T-10 finish at the Sony. I guess covering Wie and the “Bubba Watson long drive love fest” was a sexier story than a kid from Kentucky who showed up with the Q-School victory in hand. Give kudos to ESPN for focusing on the real stories and not fluff. Too bad they will not have the broadcast rights to cover PGA Tour golf in ‘07. Holmes sported a Titleist hat through Q-School, but he and his agent signed on to revive Cobra’s presence on tour. Cobra has been missing from the PGA Tour for a few years. Somebody dug deep and found Camilo Villegas (Ve-j-gus) and Holmes to headline Cobra’s return to the tour. Recently, Cobra enlisted a bunch of long drive show ponies and David Feherty to peddle their sticks. Feherty should be out of a job with the arrival of JB Holmes. My only question is where Callaway, Taylor Made, and Cleveland were in the negotiations for Holmes services. They were caught sleeping. It is safe to say the party has just begun over at Cobra's little wing of the Titleist compound.

I must admit, I visited the Cobra site over the last month waiting to see a write up on Holmes. Today they only have the lead photo and no other info on Holmes. What's a guy gotta do to get some dap from his title sponsor. Even Google Images struggles to find more than a handful of pictures of Holmes. At least for now, Holmes is still a relative unknown to the golf-watching world.
Holmes is the most exciting player not named Woods to hit the scene since a young Spaniard (who also sported a Cobra lid) burst into our living rooms in 1996. Expect more from Holmes first ten years than Sergio’s. JB looks to be for real and it should be fun watching a new era in golf begin. Tiger turns 30 and JB arrives, the 2006 season looks more exciting than a four-month Mickelson family vacation. Holmes will win again in 2006, how many more title’s is the question. It will be easier for him to possibly qualify for the Ryder Cup with the changes rewarding good play during a Ryder Cup year. That would be awesome to see Holmes at the K-Club. (clue: the one in Ireland, not the one down Leestown Road)