Holmes looking forward to match with Woods

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MARANA, Ariz. -- How good is this?

J.B. Holmes won the FBR Open earlier this season. (WireImage)

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One of J.B. Holmes' favorite movies is "Hoosiers," which tells the story of a small-town Indiana high school basketball team's run to the state championship in the early 1950s.

"I guess that would be my underdog story," he said.

And some would say Holmes is starring in golf's version of the Oscar-nominated film on Wednesday when he faces Tiger Woods in the first round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

"Some?" Holmes asked, laughing. "I didn't know who was rooting for me."

Holmes got the chance to square off against the No. 1 player in the game when Brett Wetterich had to withdraw with a shoulder injury. The third-year pro, who has never been paired with Woods, is making his Accenture Match Play Championship debut.

Woods, on the other hand, is a two-time winner of the event. He's coming off wins at the Buick Invitational and in Dubai already this year, and he closed out the 2007 PGA TOUR season with wins in five of his last six events, tying for second in the other.

"Anytime you get to play against the best player in the world or the best player in ... your own profession, you have to be doing pretty good to even have that opportunity," Holmes said.

"I'm just excited to be able to go out and see what I can do. I've never got to see him up close and watch him play. I get to see and maybe compare a little bit and see what I need to improve on."

But Holmes is doing pretty well for himself after winning the FBR Open for the second time in his career just three weeks ago. Holmes prevailed in a playoff there with Phil Mickelson, who is ranked No. 2 in the world, so he's already gotten a taste of head-to-head competition against one of the game's best.

"Sudden death is the same thing as match play except ... you screw up once, you don't get another chance," said Holmes, who is coming off a tie for seventh at last week's Northern Trust Open where Mickelson picked up his first win of 2008.

"So, match play is a little bit more forgiving than that. You can go down a couple of holes and still do well in the end. Sudden death, you don't get that chance."

Holmes, who won two matches and lost a third at the 2005 Walker Cup, doesn't figure to be intimidated by Woods' length. He ranks second on TOUR in driving distance -- and he unleashed a monster of a 359-yarder on the first hole of the playoff with Mickelson.

The 25-year-old from Campbellsville, Kent., has realized a goal this week just by making the field for the first World Golf Championships event of the year. He doesn't plan on altering his approach just because he's facing the No. 1 player in the game.

"He's a very intimidating player, but it will be fine," Holmes said. "I think of a lot of the advantage he has over a lot of people is he's able to hit it 30, 40 past them, and he has one of the best short games in the world.

"You give that guy a wedge in his hand, if they hit a 7-iron, they feel like they go right at it, and he forces them to make mistakes. Hopefully, I won't be 40 behind him. Hopefully, I'll be up around his shots.

"Maybe that will take a little bit away. But he putts solid, does everything so well, I'm going to have to play really well."