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KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIPMay 22, 2019Jay HaasRochester, New York JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon, everybody. And welcome back to the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship here at Oak Hill Country Club. I am thrilled to be joined by Jay Haas, who's a two-time KitchenAid Senior PGA champion and who happened to win here on this golf course in 2008. So I guess that is, in quick math, that is 11 years ago. Jay, let's go back to 2008 if you don't mind. You're down a shot after three rounds facing a daunting opponent in Bernhard Langer, a spry Bernhard Langer, who's 50 years old at the time. You persevered not only to win but to beat someone of Bernhard Langer's caliber. Must have been a special moment in your career. JAY HAAS: Well, it really was. And I don't think any of us realized that Bernhard Langer would go on to win already, what, 40 events now, and knew he was a wonderful player, and I guess I really wasn't thinking a whole lot about Bernhard. I know Jeff was up there as well. I think Greg was playing pretty well at the time. But I was just trying to play the golf course and not make a mess of things. And I looked at -- I didn't realize it, but I looked at a leaderboard here this week from that tournament or that round, and I didn't make a birdie the last day and maybe shot 4-over, and not many tournaments that you can be trailing by a stroke, shoot 4-over, no birdies and win the tournament. That's a testament to how the difficult the golf course was playing that week. And just very fortunate. As I look back on it, holing out a second shot on 17 for eagle on Saturday kind of got me back into the hunt a little bit. But this course holds some great meaning for me and my family. And just a connection with the Harmon family is -- to win here is something what I'll never ever forget. JOHN DEVER: So let's continue with that theme. Later this afternoon you're going to be inducted into Oak Hill's Hill of Fame, which is quite an honor. Maybe your thoughts on that caliber of achievement and how it ranks in the things that you've done in this game. JAY HAAS: Yeah, I'm pretty overwhelmed by that happenstance. I got an call from a gentleman here at the club, and Bill Westerfeld, and he told me that I was going to into the Hill of Fame, and I kind of chuckled at first. I thought he was kidding because I've known the history of it, I guess, again, through Billy and Craig and know the names that are in that Hill of Fame, and I know in the future people will look at it and go, wow, look at Nicklaus and Palmer and Trevino and Eisenhower, all these different people -- and Haas, who's that guy? How the hell did he get in there? But I am very, very honored, and I can't -- I just kind of get chills thinking about it, and, again, thinking about the history I have here. This is my sixth major event here in my career. Not many clubs other than just a regular event, weekly event on the PGA TOUR Champions Tour, I haven't played any other golf course that many times in a major tournament. So a long history, personal history here, good and bad. JOHN DEVER: Let's hit the floor for some questions. Q. Speaking of chills, do you remember that opening round last time in '08, I believe it was in the 40s? And I think you joked you -- Sluman joked he bounced one off a snow bank. When you arrived here, was it nice to see it warmer, but then when you look at the conditions for tomorrow with thunderstorms and heavy winds, can you reflect on what you might be facing tomorrow? JAY HAAS: Well, I got here Sunday night and played nine holes Monday, and it was blowing, what, 25, 30. I couldn't wait to get off the golf course. I was making bogeys and doubles on every hole. It was pretty discouraging. But I do remember it being very cool. I played beautifully the first couple days. I played with Hale the first two days, and I think I maybe was a couple under on the first round and maybe 1- or 2-over on the second round or something. But I just remember playing very, very well, tee-to-green. To me the course looks very similar to then. Weather-wise we don't know. It will certainly be warmer, it appears. But this is an unbelievable challenge here. There's no faking it around Oak Hill, never has been. Through the course of my career here, I've had very few under-par rounds. It's just every hole is a challenge. And I think that, again, depending on the weather, hopefully we'll somehow dodge tomorrow. But the wind that we played in Monday and a little bit yesterday makes this golf course all that more challenging. The fairways are not very wide. The greens are not very big. If you don't play from the fairway, you can't really play this course very well in the rough that we have. I think the rough this week is a little more dense. I think 11 years ago it was maybe longer but more kind of like my hairline and not much to it. But it -- I don't remember -- again, making four bogeys and 14 pars and winning the tournament, that's pretty unheard of. That just shows you how hard it was back then too. JOHN DEVER: I believe Billy Harmon is going to be on your bag this week. Maybe specifically talk about your relationship with Billy and the Harmon family. I know you have a deep-rooted, long history with Billy, who previously worked here with his brother at Oak Hill. JAY HAAS: Right. Yeah, we talked about when we knew this tournament was coming back here just a few years ago, Billy and I talked, and he said, I'll be ready, I want to caddie for you and all that. And he caddied for me in 1980, and we have a long history. Caddied in the Ryder Cup in '95, and his connection here, Craig's connection, there's just -- we played nine holes today with Darren Clarke, and it was basically the Harmon hour, and just talking about Butch and Craig and Dick and their dad. It's a pretty special time for me but also for Billy, I think. Spending some summers here, working for Craig, working for him during the Open in '89. So I think he feels like this is a big part of his family, as well, and I think he's having a ball here. I was joking as we walked up the 18th tee, a few people clapped after just this morning in the practice round, but then more than a few said, hey, Billy how you doing. I was thinking, most of the time your caddie is not more popular than the player, but that seems to be the case here. Q. Is Craig coming up? Is he here? JAY HAAS: He's not. Apparently he's in Ireland, I think. He's with some -- actually Doug Wines, who's a member here, I think, and some of the guys, his longtime buddies, I think they're over there playing a little bit. Q. As you've gone through the Tour this year, if you could, give us a couple guys that you think right now coming into Oak Hill are really playing pretty well on this Tour. If you had to look and see who we could possibly see there Sunday, besides yourself, of course, give us a couple names of who's really playing well. JAY HAAS: Well, you can't ever discount Bernhard. Even at 61, he's pretty unstoppable. And this course seems to play into his hands. He's not the longest hitter. More than -- longer than average, say, but he wouldn't be one. McCarron is one of the longest. But Bernhard plays this course the way this course needs to be played. He puts the ball in the fairway and puts it on the green, and he's a wonderful grinder and all that. So I think he will be a factor when the time comes. But -- and I mentioned Scott. You know, he's been playing very, very well. I think a guy like Miguel Jimenez, I think he will be difficult. He's a real ball striker, and I think that's what pays here. He just -- he's kind of seemingly there every single week too, and I think he'll get up for this being a major, and he'll be tough to beat. Paul, the defender, he's a wonderful ball striker, as well. And I think that's who you have to look for. I think the guy who maybe sprays it a little bit or is maybe more inconsistent, he'll have a harder time. I don't know who that is, most of us, but you can't fake it around here. Q. Eight guys in the field competed in the '95 Ryder Cup here. Just kind of asking guys their recollection and their memories of the '95 Ryder Cup here, that roller coaster weekend for the Americans, and what do you remember most about that weekend here? JAY HAAS: The 18th hole on Sunday, couldn't finish, choked. The disappointment of that, letting down teammates and how down everyone was after that round, the elation of Corey chipping in on Saturday afternoon to give us a two-point lead. Corey and I were talking about it this morning on the range, and lots of memories. And I said earlier, many good memories but also many heartaches here. But I remember walking out of the locker room on Tuesday morning, 20,000 people for the practice round, and talking about the hair standing up on the back of my neck. It was little things like that, not necessarily certain shots. Phil and I won a match against Seve and David Gilford, and so that's something I remember. And that was my only point for the week. But just remembering the heartache, I think, of the end of that week, that was probably what I remember most. I couldn't really watch it. I'd see it come up on Golf Channel for years after that, and it would be like looking at an eclipse, oh, turn that off, and turned to another channel. I couldn't bear to watch it. JOHN DEVER: The next major at Oak Hill after that was the 2003 PGA Championship and you played rather well, finished in a tie for 5th place at the age of 49. Did that week kind of set the stage for you here to win in '08? Did you gain some confidence back about your game and this golf course? JAY HAAS: Yeah, I think it might have. I played very well that week from tee-to-green. Maybe birdied the last hole or finished really, really and jumped in there. It allowed me to get a pick for the Presidents Cup. Jack was a captain. Slid me into maybe 11th place on the points list for the Presidents Cup. So that was certainly a rebound from '95. And I don't remember -- you think every single week and every day you'll never forget the shot you hit and all that, and I really don't remember others, other than shots that were awful or really great. But I had to have played really well that week. And I think that probably made me that I could play this course a little better than I had prior to -- in '80 I didn't play very well. I missed cut in '89. '95 was not great. So '03 and then culminating in '08, I don't know that I got it or understood the course a little bit better, but maybe just the experience that I had allowed me to not panic so much and realize that pars are a heck of a score here. JOHN DEVER: As your Tour looks at the schedule for the year, does playing on a golf course of this caliber catch everybody's attention? Do they talk about it a little bit ahead of time? Because I can't imagine that most of the courses on the PGA Tour Champions have this depth of history. JAY HAAS: Yeah, without question. I think when this was announced -- we all pinch ourselves, I think, just the fact that we're still playing out here at 50 something and 60 something, and to get to play an event like this on a place like this with fans that love the game, it's just like a performer being on stage again and playing for a packed house. Nothing like it. Most of the guys that are in here -- well, I don't know about most of them, but quite a few have played here in majors before so they know the drill here and it's just -- the condition of this golf course, the magnitude of this event is enhanced, I think, when you come to a place like this. And, yeah, all the guys are ecstatic. I played nine holes with Darren Clarke this morning, and we're both shaking our heads at the condition. You can putt on the fairways. The greens are fabulous. The rough is very fair, it's very even, there's not a -- miss the fairway on one side and it's easy and the other side is difficult. It's difficult everywhere. So the condition is second to none. Q. So many events played here for you, I know you mentioned earlier, but being inducted into the Hill of Fame, what does that mean to you? JAY HAAS: It's kind of hard to express. Again, I knew about it since 1980 and Billy caddying for me here and talking about the Hill of Fame, I said, Wow, that's really cool, what a unique thing that this club has and how they embrace their history here. All through the clubhouse, there's pictures and clubs and how many events they've had here and how they've really just nurtured that history of the club and lets everybody know. And I think the fact that it's seemingly -- I know there's got to be a few people that would love to have their course this week or begrudge the fact that we're here, but I would say 99 plus percent of the membership here just loves having us, and I think we all feel that. But to be included in the Hill of Fame -- again, I look at those names, and looked at them from afar, and all of those, whether it be a Hall of Fame or the Hill of Fame, whatever it might be, I don't put myself in that category at all. And I was thinking that when a baseball player is a first-ballot Hall of Famer and then you're on there for ten years, I think I would be a 19th year ballot Hall of Famer, you know, Hill of Fame. And I pinch myself at that. Jan is up here with me, and she said, We should have brought everybody up here. But I'm just -- I'm just -- I want to say blown away. I don't know. Again, I don't even have words for it. Maybe that's what I should say in my speech, I'm speechless and I'll see you later. I couldn't have dreamt of that. People talk about my son Bill winning tournaments and being on the PGA TOUR and all that, and they say did you dream of that. I really didn't. I couldn't fathom that. So to be included with the grouping that had been honored here in the past is beyond belief. Q. Do you have a prepared speech? JAY HAAS: You know, as they say, I have some thoughts, but usually if I prepare something, I always screw it up. So I'm just going to wing it like I did in college. Q. Well, it will be more real that way. I'm not sure if you aware, but there are some big renovations coming to Oak Hill. What are your thoughts on 15, and are you kind of sad that you have to be one of the last groups to play that one and not the new one? JAY HAAS: Right. I've heard talk of how it was prior to when I played it here. I guess it was changed in the '70s maybe, and they talk about the 5th hole was one -- our 5th hole now was one of the great par-4s in America, they said. To change that, to take away one of the greatest holes on your golf course, I'm anxious to see the completed project. I've always thought the 5th hole we play now is one of the hardest holes. That green looks like a Volkswagen sitting there. How to hit that green, I'm always in the right rough and chipping down the hill on that green. But I'm anxious to see the -- going back to the original. You know, Jeff Sluman is a great friend, and he's been talking about it for a couple years, and he was hoping to maybe have it done for this event. But the 15th hole, I came there yesterday and I looked, I said, they've narrowed this green, haven't they? I didn't remember it being that small down there. So I'll be somebody who's happy that the pond is going away. I understand they're going to go kind of with a hole like at Wannamoisett or something, kind of a little par-3, a Donald Ross hole with bunkers down the lower right or something. And I guess I always thought that 15 didn't really look like it fit the course. There are no ponds or lakes on old golf courses it doesn't seem like. They just didn't have them, they played around them or they played away from them or something. Maybe creeks and things like that. But that hole just didn't seem to fit. So I won't be sad to see that one go, that's for sure. Q. Not to pick a scab, but more to set the record straight, as you're talking about '95 and the disappointment on 18, it sounds kind of like an epic collapse, but that wasn't exactly what happened, right? If you go back to 16 and 17, what was going on in the match? JAY HAAS: Well, I was playing Philip Walton from Ireland, and I got 3-down. Talking about 15, he stuffed one in there about two-and-a-half feet. I was thinking maybe this would be a hole I could make a par. Small green, hit a good shot, maybe you can get back to 1-down, and then he hit in there three feet, and I actually hit a pretty good shot, I think, maybe 18 or 20 feet and didn't make it. And then he made it for birdie. That was 3-down with three to play. And then I holed out of the bunker at 16 and hit a hell of a shot into 17 out of the right trees to about 15 feet and missed, and then he missed an eight-footer to close me out. So we got to 18, and just the weight of everything, and I buckled. It was pretty awful. But led to better things after that. It was kind of a good -- a cleansing, I guess. But, yeah, to get to 18 was pretty cool and I had visions of jumping up and down on 18 green and all that. But didn't happen. JOHN DEVER: Had to wait a few more years. Q. Looking back to 2008, magic number was 7-over. I remember looking at the video now and there's almost a sigh of relief when you made that last putt and clinched the victory. What's the course comparatively this time around to back then, 11 years ago? Is about it the same type of difficulty? Do you think it will play a little easier? JAY HAAS: You would think that someone would shoot under par here. But maybe not. I don't know. Again, it depends a little bit on the weather. I think if we get some wind, the scores will be much higher than with a calm day like today. It was a perfect day to play golf. I don't know that it will be as high as it was back then, but, Bernhard, 50 years old, top of his game, 8-over, Greg Norman, 9-over; Jeff Sluman, 9-over. Everyone was having difficulty with it. So it'd be pretty hard to think that everyone would have that much difficulty again. At 65 I feel like I'm not the player I was at 54. But it seems like a big handful for me. I know that. Hopefully they'll move that tee forward on 18, because I get to that tee, and it's like, Really? I thought that was a par 4 here. But at 477, I don't know, I think that yardage is way off there. More like 520. Hard to say, but, yeah, I would think somebody will shoot around par, and I think that will be 1-, 2-under, 1-, 2-over, something like that would probably be the winning score here this week. JOHN DEVER: He's a two-time champion. Jay, thanks for coming up and chatting with us, and enjoy your day today and the championship this weekend. JAY HAAS: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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