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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

February 1, 2018

Bill Haas

Scottsdale, Arizona

Q. You had a few missed cuts in a row then tied for 54th last week, so what has led to such a strong opening round?
BILL HAAS: I'm not sure, I've been struggling, so just kind of practicing, working hard and trying to figure something out. The putter was hot the first nine holes. Got lucky, I kind of hit a bad putt on 2, but it hit the back of the cup and went in. So one of those days where I could have easily 3-putted that if it had run by, but it went in and saved two shots there basically. So one of those days where they went in for me so hopefully it will be one of those weeks.

Q. You were dialed in with the putter, but just on the front nine how much momentum did that give you?
BILL HAAS: A lot. I made a 3 at 15, hit a nice shot at 16. Those are certainly tough shots. They could have, you can make a mess of those holes pretty quickly. So I got to 2-under and then quickly 4-under with the eagle. So it felt nice and once you get a cushion like that you can free your swing up a little bit and the rest of the day was nice.

Q. How about this golf course, how does it set up for you for the rest of the way?
BILL HAAS: It's good, I like playing in the desert, I love the turf, I love the grass, the greens are going to get firmer and firmer. I think it will put an emphasis on the driver, if you can drive it in the fairway, I still think you'll see guys shoot good scores. But if the wind stays down like this in perfect conditions, it's fun golf.

Q. The crowds growing and growing that's going to make things more exciting.
BILL HAAS: It will be intense on the weekend for sure.

Q. 7-under 64. Walk us through the front nine. 5-under through your first seven holes and just what that momentum was like.
BILL HAAS: It was great. Just got off to a nice start, I had a bad drive at 11 and then a bad second shot, chip wasn't very good and I had about a 15-footer for par and I made that. I'm not saying that was everything, but if I miss that I'm 1-over, I make that, and then I hit a nice shot into 12, made birdie there. All of a sudden I'm under par as opposed to over par. Things kind of got off to a nice start there after that. It seems like I had a tough putt on 17 for par, about 8-footer down the hill, made that one. So the holes in the last few weeks that I've been missing all those putts I made them today. So hopefully the putter stays hot like that.

Q. What was different about putting, the way you approached things or were you seeing the line better, talk us through that.
BILL HAAS: Yeah, I got some work, Stan Utley, I've been talking to my dad, mainly. I call him when, every time I shoot a bad score he hears about it and he tries to help. He suggested seeing Stan. He's kind of a putting, chipping guru and I worked with him before in the past. And I'm trying something pretty different, actually, so sometimes when you do something different like that the ball starts rolling a little better and hopefully that will continue.

Q. Different in the grip or kind of more of a --
BILL HAAS: Everything. I would say in the stroke a little bit. I feel like the putter head's coming off the ball a little quicker. Without being too specific, it's just a little bit different approach. I don't know if it's a different approach than the way I like to putt, it's just where I have gone wasn't necessarily proper in his mind. So just trying to, a new thought and it worked today.

Q. You're the leader right now. What do you think will be leading after 36 holes tomorrow?
BILL HAAS: I don't know. Kind of depends on the weather. I haven't even looked if it's supposed to be breezy or hot or nice. But if it stays like today I would see 4-, 5-under being another good score. So if I go shoot that I would still be leading. But the afternoon today, when it's warmer the ball's going, you can make some birdies. Tomorrow morning it will be a little cooler, ball won't be going, I think it will be a little more difficult early. But you never know. I think if I stay -- double digits is going to have a chance on the weekend for sure.

Q. What's different about the course this year since the changes and do you feel it suits your game a little better?
BILL HAAS: I played it the first year and it was really bad weather, it was cold, ball wasn't going anywhere, and I found it really, really difficult. And it is much more difficult than even the way it played today than it was before. But I remember thinking I didn't want to come back because it was holes where I was hitting wood in and you couldn't stop it on the new greens, they were firm. But I do think when you have good weather the course plays completely fair, it's just more challenging off the tee for sure.

Q. Is it as much of a bomber's course as it used to be?
BILL HAAS: Every course is a bomber's course. Yeah, I mean I think it is. If you can hit it further then you have an advantage.

Q. Have the fairways gotten thinner?
BILL HAAS: I would say where you hit driver they're a little thinner for most guys out here. I think if you hit driver then it thins out to where you hit it. So again if you hit driver when it's -- if you hit it longer than the next guy and you drive it straight -- that's the big thing about most of the bombers today, quote unquote, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, they drive it really straight. So there's your advantage. They're long and straight. I think if they were just a long drive champion they wouldn't be out here. But hitting it further is an advantage no matter what course you're playing.

Q. What is it about 16 that seems to suit your eye because I think you birdied it three of the last five times you played it.
BILL HAAS: I don't know. I think that's just, it could go the other way. Ask me again after the week. Hopefully I hit some good ones there again. But today was a pretty gettable pin. Again, no breeze, it was just a 9-iron for me, so it was a good club for me today. Tomorrow I think the pin is back left, you won't see nearly as many birdies tomorrow. So I don't know, I try not to make a mess of the hole. Middle of the green's a good shot. Even though they tend to boo you now if you don't hit it to 10 feet. If you hit it 20 feet, they boo. So I just tried to play the hole like I would any other hole, even though it's not like any other hole. It's certainly an exciting golf hole.

Q. Scoring conditions were good today or were they just really good for you?
BILL HAAS: They were good. I think you saw a lot of under par scores. There's no breeze. If it's not good today they're not going to be good. So it was pretty gettable golf course weather-wise and everything. But the greens were firm, difficult to get it close on some holes, so you just had to take advantage where you hit good ones.

Q. Some of the changes you talked about implementing, is that stuff you came out the new year doing or is that kind of a reaction to the slow start over the last couple weeks?
BILL HAAS: I just saw Stan Tuesday, so just trying something this week. My stats putting are really, really bad, so I'm just kind of searching trying to figure it out. This is only one round, I'm not saying I'm cured by any means, I'm still grinding and practicing, so you just hopefully you figure it out. The best players seem to play well every, every week and that's kind of the goal is just to get a little bit more consistent and not have those weeks where you putt so bad or hit it so bad you just got to be, to compete with these guys week-in and week-out you got to be sharp.

Q. Same putter?
BILL HAAS: Same putter.

Q. Was your first round here on a sponsor's exemption?
BILL HAAS: I don't know. Maybe.

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