J.B. Holmes

J.B. Holmes, born in Campbellsville, Kentucky, began to play on the varsity golf team at Taylor County High School in Campbellsville when he was in the third grade. While in high school he played on the Pepsi Junior Golf Tour. He attended the University of Kentucky in Lexington, helping to achieve SEC Title while there and represented the United States in the 2005 Walker Cup before turning professional later that year.

Holmes was medalist at the 2005 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. He tied for tenth in his first PGA Tour start at the 2006 Sony Open in Hawaii and in February that year he won the FBR Open, making him the fastest golfer to reach $1,000,000 in career earnings on the PGA Tour. It was his fifth tournament as a professional and his fourth on the PGA Tour.

Holmes won the FBR Open for the second Tour win of his career and also captured the tournament title for the second time in three years. This victory took Holmes to 62nd in the Official World Golf Ranking and in April 2008 he reached the top 50 of the world rankings for the first time.

In the 2008 Ryder Cup, Holmes defeated Europe's Søren Hansen 2&1 during Sunday's singles matches to bring the United States within one point of clinching the Ryder Cup. Holmes and another Ryder Cup teammate, Kenny Perry, were named Kentuckians of the Year for 2008 by Kentucky Monthly magazine.

After shooting an 80 in the first round, Holmes withdrew from the 2011 PGA Championship in August. He had been dealing with vertigo symptoms for several months and eventually was diagnosed with structural defects in the cerebellum known as Chiari malformations. He underwent brain surgery on September 1, 2011, and about a month later, doctors discovered later that Holmes was allergic to the adhesive used on the webbed titanium plate at the base of his skull. He was airlifted from his home in Kentucky to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for another surgery. Holmes returned to the PGA Tour in late January 2012 at the Farmers Insurance Open.

After brain surgery, Holmes played in 26 events in 2012. Holmes would get his first win in six years and regain his Tour status through the 2015-2016 season and moved him from 242nd to 68th in the Official World Golf Ranking. The win also earns Holmes entry into the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.