J.B. Holmes blasts 'cheating' accusations! "A compilation of inaccuracies"

Five-time PGA Tour winner and former Ryder Cup player J.B. Holmes has hit back at claims he cheated in a six-person scramble.

Ben Smith

03 Jun 2023

J.B. Holmes blasts 'cheating' accusations! "A compilation of inaccuracies"

Five-time PGA Tour winner J.B. Holmes was branded a 'cheat' after he took part in a six-person scramble and won under a cryptic name.

Okay, it wasn't really that cryptic as former Ryder Cup player Holmes was entered under his real name Jonathan Bradley.

But still, it was enough for the tour pro to go unnoticed in the comp - the Gangsome - at Franklin Bridge Golf Course last week.

So much so, tournament organisers reportedly only recognised his tour-level swing on the second day.

As first reported by Ryan French, J.B. was playing in the scramble which involved a 'Calcutta'.

That is a method of auctioning each team, with the pot divided by the top teams.

Per French's report, it stated that only two of the four-man teams could be plus handicappers.

Apparently, J.B. was listed as having a handicap of 8.8.

However, Holmes took to social media to provide some clarification, claiming that coverage of the story contained a litany of inaccuracies.

J.B. claimed that he was entered into the event under the name John Bradley as 'a joke without my knowledge'.

He wrote that no strokes were given to any team, nor did organisers check anyone's name or handicap index to see if they were correct because the premise was to 'bring your best'.

Here is the Tournament rules and what actually happened. We were winning -21 after round 1 and that’s how they made the flights. pic.twitter.com/zCNUm0kNYY
— J.B. Holmes (@JBHolmesgolf) June 1, 2023

He added:

"Neither I nor anyone on my team bought of bid on our team at the Calcutta. I was not even present for the Calcutta. I was playing for fun with my friend and had no intention nor did I intend to make money at scramble.

"The next day the person who bought my team found found of the guys I was playing with and asked if we would buy half the bid. I did not buy in but the other members did.

"They did not let us participate in the Calcutta even though no rules were broken. The man that bought our team got his money back. Unfortunately what was meant to be a fun golf outing with a friend has turned into a compilation of inaccuracies."

See his full statement: