Holmes happy to bounce back at Scottsdale

JB Holmes was delighted to overcome a poor start and produce a third round of 66 to open up a two-shot advantage at the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Holmes heads the field on 14 under par, emerging from a group of five players tied for the lead at the halfway mark after recording eight birdies in his five under par effort.

Holmes began with a bogey but quickly recovered to pick up shots at four consecutive holes from the third.

After a bogey at the seventh, he added four more birdies and dropped just one shot over his final 11 holes.

“I felt a little disappointed starting with a bogey but I bounced back and had four in a row,” Holmes said.

“It was a good day all around. I had maybe a couple more bogeys than I would like but luckily I was making putts and made a lot of birdies today.”

Charles Warren shot a 67 and Jonathan Byrd 68 to finish in a tie for second at 12 under, while Ben Crane (67) and Nick O’Hern (68) were a further shot back.

A group of six players, including Justin Leonard and Phil Mickelson, were 10 under.

Holmes won the tournament as a rookie in 2006 but it has so far proved to be his only success.

That victory was also his last 54-hole lead and he went on to win his first PGA title by seven strokes from five players.

“It’s completely different circumstances,” Holmes added.

“The same thing is not going to happen to me. Hopefully the same thing will happen to me but I’ve got a lot of good players behind me.”

Warren believes it will take something special to take the title on Sunday.

“With so many guys from 10 under, nine under and up, somebody is going to shoot six, seven, eight under out of that group and you know it’s going to happen,” he said.

“You know it’s going to take 16 or 17 under to win this golf tournament.”

Mickelson agreed with Warren‘s prediction.

“It’ll be a shoot-out,” he said.

“I think the leaders obviously have an advantage because they have a couple of shots on the field.

“But I think if the guys at 10-under, and there’s a lot of them, can get off to a good start and make some birdies, it’s always harder when you have to birdie to keep pace.

“And I think that’s the goal, is to put pressure on the leaders by making some birdies early.”