U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 24, 2022

Jay Haas

Saucon Valley C.C. (Old Course)

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Jay Haas, 1-over 72. Talk about your round a little today.

JAY HAAS: It's funny how golf is. I played, I thought, tee to green much better than I did yesterday but didn't get the results. Didn't putt quite as well, but my mis-hits, I paid for, and that was the difference.

But I had three or four chances for birds that I didn't get that I did yesterday, and I just mis-hit a couple shots coming in and it cost me.

Overall I was very pleased. Drove the ball really nicely. I drove it in the fairway bunker on 18 and made bogey.

I hit it in the first cut on No. 3, other than that I hit all the fairways, and that was not the case yesterday. I was probably less than half.

After two days I probably got what I deserved. Pleased to be in the red for sure and doing a lot of good things. I feel like I'm learning the golf course as we go along, learning where not to go.

I hit it a couple of those places today. Hopefully by tomorrow and Sunday I'll learn my lesson a little bit.

Q. We keep hearing how important getting it in the fairway is, but heading into the weekend, what else is going to be critical, whoever's going to hoist that trophy on Sunday.

JAY HAAS: I think the greens have so much undulation in them that, if you're on the wrong side of humps it really puts you on the defensive. I had a couple of those today, a couple of mis-hit shots that really -- again, not knowing the course, I think, really hurt me there.

I do think the greens got a good bit faster today, just no rain, the sun drying them out a little bit. I thought they had at least a foot or two more of speed today. So that makes a difference. When you're around the hole, you really can't run at them too much, and yesterday it seemed like you could a little. There was a little more moisture in the greens.

I think that as we go on it will get even more like that. I think the greens will be very difficult. You're seeing -- it's a beautiful day, a little bit of breeze kicking up, but the scores aren't unbelievable. So I think the course is showing out a little bit today.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the fan support? There's great crowds out here.

JAY HAAS: Pretty cool. Yesterday I could see not having a big crowd, but today they're starting to come. This is a good sign, that if you see it like this on Fridays that the weekend is going to be pretty special.

Looks like the temperature is mid-80s, so that -- it's a pretty easy course to see a lot of stuff too. A lot of stuff going on right around the clubhouse, so you don't have to walk a long way. I think we'll see some big crowds on the weekend.

Q. Correct me if I'm wrong, it's 17 appearances here, 17 made cuts. What is the secret? Whether you're young or old, you're still making cuts.

JAY HAAS: Yeah, I don't know. I just hate missing cuts, I guess, but for some reason or another, I've played well in Senior Opens.

Somebody said to me on Tuesday or Wednesday that I'd never missed a cut, and I wished I hadn't have heard that because that was kind of all I was thinking about.

You know, I don't know what it is. I drive the ball pretty well, or have driven it well the last few years, and I think that's very important.

The length of the course is still a U.S. Open, so there's plenty -- I've hit plenty of hybrid clubs into greens, and that's not to my benefit.

At the same time, I think pars are good scores. I always feel like a par, I didn't give anything away when I make a par on a hole, so I have a good attitude when I come to an Open.

Q. You said yesterday you'd rather play than practice. Have you cut your practice time, or are you still practicing as much as you used to?

JAY HAAS: I don't practice hardly at all. I just -- I think all of us have aches and pains, and I just feel like I don't get a lot out of practicing. It probably hurts me worse the next day when I get out of bed.

I'm fine, but my back has been an issue for a long time. Again, like most everybody out here. But I just feel like more quality rather than quantity. I'd love to go out and bang a couple of buckets of balls. By the end of it, I'll feel pretty good, but by 4:00 this afternoon, I won't be able to get out of bed.

Q. With all that in mind, what are your career goals at this stage now?

JAY HAAS: Keep my card, I guess. No, I just -- I think for the longest time I felt like I wanted to improve. That was my goal for the year back in my 20s and 30s. I wanted to get better.

Obviously that curve is going the wrong way, but I still think I can learn something. I played a practice round, nine holes with Ernie on Tuesday afternoon, and I was watching him hit bunker shots, just how he approaches things.

I'm never going to hit it like Ernie, never did hit it like Ernie. All I can do is learn certain shots around the greens that don't take a lot of strength, stuff like that.

I think my goal each year is to get better in my mind and to learn how to hit certain shots and to be patient. I think I'm much more patient than I ever used to be when I was younger.

My goal is not to play past when I should have quit. I don't know when that's going to be, but I'll probably wake up and go, well, I should have quit three months ago. I still feel like I'm not embarrassing myself. Weeks like this, it's pretty cool.

Q. Just to follow that up, what do you think you have that gets you in contention in events like this that maybe some other guys don't?

JAY HAAS: Well, again, if I can drive the ball like I did today, that's a definite plus. I'm certainly not one of the longest hitters, but I'm not so short that I'm taking the brunt of it.

If guys are driving it in this rough but they're longer, I'd rather be 15, 20 yards shorter and be in the fairway in a place. A lot of places that's not the case. But here you've got -- not only is the rough very long, but it's dense and thick, and I can't muscle through there. If I'm in the rough, I didn't roll out, so now I'm another 10 or 15 yards even farther than I want to be.

Again, if I can put it in the fairway, then I have, in my mind, somewhat of an advantage.

Q. You've been around a little bit. Does it still amaze you when you look -- you look at Labritz, 50 years old, he's been dying to get out here, a lot of passion. You've seen this for years. Does it still amaze you how much people embrace competitive golf?

JAY HAAS: I think if you've played golf most of your life, you look at a tournament like this and certain people that qualify, whether it be the first time or the tenth time, whatever it is, it's pretty special.

I know, when I played in the U.S. Open, I always felt like I really accomplished something, whether it be through qualifying for being in the top 30 or the top 50, however I got in.

So for people to have that bag tag that says U.S. Senior Open on it, it's pretty special. I think most of the guys feel like they've made it to the show, as they say. You go in the locker room, and there's your locker with your name on it. That doesn't ever get old.