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  ohn Holmes may have discovered the perlect summer getaway: the U.S. Open. But the
  3 UK golfer hoped that this would be the first of many trips to the prestigious tournament.
  Holmes teed olf at 8 a.1n. on June l2 at the Olympia Fields Country Club in Chicago.
`V where he played against the likes of Tiger Woods and David Duval.
‘ Holmes paired with Chad Campbell and Brad Elder.
E _. _! Playing against the world’s elite didn’t scare Holmes. playing in his first PGA Tour event. l 
  "There`s no pressure." Holmes said. "l`m not even supposed to be there. l`1n just going up  
Q there and have a good time. lfl make the cut. great. lfnot. hey. l still made the U.S. Open."  
  Holmes earned the honor of playing in the U.S. Open in a 36-hole qualifying event in l
  Columbus. Ohio. The Campbellsville native made the cut by scoring an eight—under par 136. l 
  "Once l figured out there were 20 spots to be had. l felt like l had a good chanee." Holmes —l
lei said. "l was hitting the ball pretty good and lelt real confident going into it."  
ll i PGA players Bob Tway and Jesper Parnivic were just a lew ofthe pros l-lolmes either beat or  
tied in qualifying. i i
3 "lt was something l always felt I could do but never had the chance." Holmes said. "lt made i
me feel good and just gave me more confidence."
UK coach Brian Craig hoped that Holmes wasn`t overwhelmed by all the tournament hoopla. i
"The good thing about the Open is you get to go up there and play two or three practice i
’ rounds and get your feet wet." Craig said. "Hopefully when he gets tip to the first tee. it won't be
so new to him and he won't be so overwhelmed. V
j` "He just has to focus on what he does. lt`s still golf. it's still lS holes, and it's still the lowest _
Jl score that wins." V p
P V- C Craig saw this as the next step for Holmes.   l
"l think this is a natural progression for a guy that has .lohn`s ability." said Craig. "He`s got
the game to play the (PGA) tour and to play it well. Hopefully he’ll take it from here and keep
getting better and better and we'll see him for many years to come on the tour." i
». Holmes fired a five-over par in two rounds of the Open. . _ p
He settled down after a six—over par 76 in the first round. He rebounded to score a onc-un-
der par 69 in the second round.
Holmes started the second round by parring the first hole and birdying the second.
l The eutoffto qualify lor the third round was three-over par. leaving llolmes just two strokes
short.
"l didn`t make the cut, but l had a great time." llolmes said in a news release. "The experi- i
ence of playing in a PGA Tour major is awesome. A lot of golfers go their whole lives and don`t i p
' get a chance to play in the U.S. Open and l got to do it while l`m still in college. l could not
have asked lor anything bettcr."
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