The Loop
Players react to J.B. Holmes' 62 at Doral, and why it might be the most impressive round on the PGA Tour all year
J.B. Holmes torched Trump National Doral on Thursday with a 10-under-par 62 that put him four shots clear of Ryan Moore after the first round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship. But you might not realize just how impressive that score was.
Not all 62s are equal and Holmes gets extra credit for a few reasons. First, the course. The revamped "Blue Monster" was one of the most difficult on tour last year, producing a winning score for the week of just four under by Patrick Reed. More wind in 2014 made scoring a bit tougher, but there were only three sub-68 scores for the entire week with the lowest being a pair of 66s by Jonas Blixt and Tiger Woods (Yes, that Tiger Woods). Holmes matched Bubba Watson's score in 2012, but again, that was before Gil Hanse's changes.
Secondly, while conditions weren't particularly difficult on Thursday, the scoring average for the field was 73.39 -- meaning Holmes played his round in nearly 11 and a half fewer strokes. To put that in perspective, Jim Furyk's 59 at the 2013 BMW Championship was 12.1 shots better than the field that day, putting Holmes' 62 in the same ballpark.
And finally, the field itself makes Holmes' score even better. He didn't just beat any field by 11.39 shots, he beat one of the strongest fields of the year. In fact, this year's Cadillac Championship is the first PGA Tour event to feature all top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking since the 2012 PGA Championship. And yet, after Thursday's eight birdies and one eagle, only one of those players is even within five shots of him.
Here's how some of the other players reacted:
And here's what Holmes thought about it: