FBR Open
Monday Jan 26 – Sunday Feb 1, 2009

FBR Open: Final-Round Notebook

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Feb. 3, 2008
By John Bush and Joan Alexander, PGA TOUR Staff

Video: Round 4 Recap | Holmes talks to XM | Mickelson discusses playoff loss
Read:
Weather affects play | Mickelson sees win slip away | Holmes wins playoff
Post-round transcripts: Holmes | Mickelson

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- J.B. Holmes defeated Phil Mickelson with a birdie-3 on the first playoff hole to capture the 2008 FBR Open. It represented the 13th playoff at the FBR Open, and the first since Mickelson defeated Justin Leonard in 1996. It was Holmes' first career playoff appearance, while Mickelson falls to 7-3 in extra sessions.

Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson was involved in FBR Open playoffs twice when Phoenix hosted the Super Bowl. (Dunn/WireImage)
Players who got first
two wins at same event
Player Event
Hale Irwin 1971, 1973 Sea Pines Heritage
Dave Eichelberger 1971, 1977 Greater Milwaukee Open
Calvin Peete 1979, 1982 Greater Milwaukee Open
Loren Roberts 1994, 1995 Bay Hill Invitational
Brian Henninger 1994, 1999 Southern Farm Bureau Classic
Vaughn Taylor 2004, 2005 Reno-Tahoe Open
J.B. Holmes 2006, 2008 FBR Open

• With his victory, J.B. Holmes earns 4,500 FedExCup points and jumps to No. 2 in the FedExCup standings through five events. With 4,958 points, he trails K.J. Choi by a mere four points. Choi has now held the top spot for the last four weeks.

• Speaking of Choi, he managed the only bogey-free round on Sunday with a 5-under 66.

• J.B. Holmes (2006, 2008) becomes the first player to notch his first two career victories at the same tournament since Vaughn Taylor won the 2004 and 2005 Reno-Tahoe Open. Since 1960, seven players have performed the feat.

• In addition to his 32 PGA TOUR victories, Phil Mickelson has now posted 21 runner-up finishes, seventh-best among active players. Greg Norman leads the list with 31, followed by Davis Love III (29), Mark Calcavecchia (27), Tiger Woods (23), Vijay Singh (23) and Mark O'Meara (22).

• The last three winners of the FBR Open have been in their 20s, including 2006 and 2008 winner J.B. Holmes (25 years, nine months, eight days) and 2007 victor Aaron Baddeley.

• Through the 2008 FBR Open, there are only six players younger than 30 with two or more victories on the PGA TOUR. Led by 28-year-old Sergio Garcia, who has six, the group has 19 wins. The others are Adam Scott (five wins, age 27); Charles Howell III (two wins, age 28); Aaron Baddeley (twin wins, age 26); D.J. Trahan (two wins, age 27); and J.B. Holmes (two wins, age 25).

• The last player to win the FBR Open during the same week that Phoenix hosted the Super Bowl was Phil Mickelson in 1996, although that victory took place the day before the NFL's biggest game.

• 2007 Nationwide Tour graduate Jason Day closed with a 4-under 67 to finish tied for 20th, his first top-20 finish of the season. His career-best showing is a tie for 11th at the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open.

• Runner-up Phil Mickelson maintains his lead on the all-time FBR Open money list, with $2,455,813. Two-time winner J.B. Holmes is closing in on him fast, however, sitting second on the list with $2,016,000. They are the only players in tournament history to surpass $2 million in earnings.

• Holmes collected $1,080,000 first-place check, the largest of his career, which brings his season earnings on the PGA TOUR to $1,176,660, moving him into No. 1 on the 2008 PGA TOUR money list. Holmes surpasses the $3 million mark in PGA TOUR career earnings ($3,538,479) since becoming a member of the PGA TOUR in 2006.

• Five players finished the week with all four rounds in the 60s, including Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Boo Weekley, Mark Wilson and Bill Haas.

• J.B. Holmes and Briny Baird led the tournament with 21 birdies, one more than a list of seven players which included Phil Mickelson.

• The round of the day was turned in by Briny Baird with a 6-under 65, helping him jump 31 spots from a tie for 44th to a tie for 13th. Baird also equaled the round of the week with a 7-under 64 during the second round. Others with a 64 this week were Doug LaBelle II (Rd. 2), Jonathan Byrd (Rd. 2) and Mark Calcavecchia (Rd. 3).

Stuart Appleby (tie for fourth at FBR Open/tie for eighth at Buick Invitational) and Phil Mickelson (second at FBR Open/tie for sixth at Buick Invitational) have finished inside the top 10 in each of their first two starts of the year.

• Mark Calcavecchia, playing in his 22nd consecutive FBR Open, finished tied for 20th for his 11th top-25 finish at the FBR Open. Since the tournament moved to the TPC Scottsdale in 1987, Calcavecchia and Phil Mickelson lead the tournament with nine top-10 finishes.

• The cumulative scoring average this week at the par-71 TPC Scottsdale was 70.306, the fifth-easiest the course has played since the FBR Open moved here in 1987. The lowest average during that stretch was 69.130 in 2003.

Kevin Stadler withdrew prior to the start of the final round with a wrist injury suffered during the third round. He will earn last-place, unofficial money.

• J.B. Holmes earned his second career PGA TOUR victory and second at the FBR Open on the PGA TOUR at the age of 25 years, nine months and eight days. He becomes the fourteenth player to win the FBR Open multiple times, and earned his second victory in his third appearance in Phoenix. (2006-won, 2007-MC)

• He becomes the third consecutive player in his 20s to win this event (J.B. Holmes, 2006; Aaron Baddeley, 2007). Before 2006, the last player to win in his 20s in Scottsdale came in 1996 when Phil Mickelson won at 25 years, 7 months and 11 days.

• Holmes becomes the second player in his 20s to win on the PGA TOUR in 2008, joining D.J. Trahan, who won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic two weeks ago.

• Holmes' win comes one year, 11 months and 29 days from his first career victory, the 2006 FBR Open (Feb. 5, 2006), 49 starts later. It is his fifth top-10 since winning in 2006, including a tie for fourth at the Mercedes-Benz Championship. He has six career top-10s in 55 career TOUR starts.

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