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U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 6, 2006

Jay Haas

HUTCHINSON, KANSAS

Q. RAND JERRIS: Nice little round there. Your general thoughts?

JAY HAAS: Yeah, early in the round I wasn't real sharp, but I got away with a couple bad shots. Probably the key shot of the day was an 8 footer for bogey at number 5. I hit it way right, hit it left, short of the green, chipped up, not very good. And then make this putt for five to keep me one over.

Then I birdied the next three holes. And that little stretch right there just kind of got me into it, and a double there would have been not good on my psyche, I guess. So that was a key putt.

And I made a nice putt at the next hole, maybe six feet. 2 putted seven and then about a six or seven footer at number eight. So just those three key putts right in there, that was my round right there, I think.

Q. A lot of people have talked about the putting and the greens and the fact that because the course is short some of the pin placements are a little evil. I watched you on nine, and I watched a lot of players struggle there.

JAY HAAS: Yeah, I bogeyed nine. That pin is difficult. I think that they have to put some difficult pins because, other than the rough, the length is not a defense of the course. So if you put the ball in the fairway here you can attack a little bit.

But, with those pins on edges that they role off and everything, that's what makes it pretty difficult. We saw that a few times today. The greens are tough to read though. A lot of little subtleties in them. A lot of humps and bumps you have to go over.

If you shoot to the fat side you're probably going over a hump with a six foot break on it.

Q. Could you talk about the birdies on 11 and 17?

JAY HAAS: 11 I hit a great three wood off the tee, which is a key shot for me, because in the practice round I never hit that fairway. So that was a good tee shot. And then I hit an 8 iron to about 10 feet and made that one.

Then 17, I hit a probably two of my best shots of the day, or the two best shots of the day. My five wood from 235, I guess, and I knocked onto the green there. Which that green is hard to hit with a sand wedge, so doing that was I felt like it was going to be a easy birdie.

And then I got up there and my putt had like 15 feet of break to the tee. If I would have missed the left low it would have gone down probably 15 feet bow below the hole. And if I would have gone the other way it would have missed 10 feet to the right. So I rolled it down to about a foot and a half. So that one was maybe the best shot of the day I hit.

Q. Of course you're always very patient when it comes to being around the greens, is that an added quality right now, being able to read putts from two different directions and get a different read no matter which way you look at it?

JAY HAAS: Yeah, I think so. I think that we're that's certainly a test for us here. And Peter had a bunch of putts. I think he rolled the ball great today but didn't make anything. But just dying off one way or the other at the hole and, that's what can happen here. If you're just off just a little bit.

And in the middle of the putt the grain will change in the first part of the putt. It might be left to right grain, and then up at the hole it will be right to left. So it's really hard to get a read on that, along with the speed. But if you can get it on the right side, the correct side of the hole, you can attack.

Q. Usually the wind blows a little bit more than it did today here. Do you feel fortunate to have gotten around under your belt on a relatively calm day?

JAY HAAS: Yeah, this was at times it blew a little bit on certain holes. It kind of kicked up. But on the difficult holes it seemed like it was mostly helping or not really too bad.

So, yeah, we heard horror stories here if it goes to 20, 25. It doesn't have to be a long golf course if it's blowing that hard, so we're pretty fortunate today and I'm thrilled to death to get in with 3 under par here.

Q. You played with Peter today. How was that?

JAY HAAS: Well, I saw that pairing and I loved it. Our third, Greg Hays didn't have a great day, and I felt terrible for him. But it was, I think he's got a 7 or 8 year old boy that jumped in his arms after the round, so that made it all worthwhile for him I think.

But, yeah, I enjoy Peter. He keeps it light. There's we were telling stories, told a few jokes out there, and it's always a pleasure to play with Peter.

Q. Can you talk about the four day grind in this compared to the three days that you guys usually play?

JAY HAAS: I guess that's what I'm used to. Not that I've been playing the PGA TOUR this year that much, but that's kind of our mindset. I guess I don't think so much about it being four days. If I can't walk 18 holes for four straight day, then I'm in trouble. I need to go somewhere else.

Q. What is it like walking this course? I mean, it's not long in length.

JAY HAAS: It's not long, but there's some up hills, you know, through the sand dunes and things like that. But, again, I don't think anybody's going to say that they can't get around 18 holes here. But it's not dead flat by any means. It's not like Harbour Town or Hilton Head, that's pretty easy. That's like walking on the sidewalk there. But this one has some dunes to it and some climbs to tee, but what a great place. Just love it.

Q. What were you able to take from your win at the Senior PGA as you prepared for this major, and what it takes to grind for four days and being patient and things like that?

JAY HAAS: I guess just knowing that I could do it down the stretch. That was the tournaments that I won this year I really played good back nines and really hit a lot of good shots. I didn't back into the tournament. I felt like I won the tournaments, and that's in the back of my mind.

That's building my confidence, and has been a big boost for me. And won in a playoff against Brad. He I won't say he gave it to me there at the end, but I made a nice putt on the third playoff hole and then he missed. But I just felt like I have been hitting a lot of good shots down the stretch. And so I think that's really what I have taken from the PGA and a couple other wins this year, just knowing that I can do that when the heat's on.

Q. There's a lot of great players that are just teeing off in this 30 minute span. Some of the greatest golfers that have not just played on the Senior TOUR, but the TOUR in general, are you going to be watching the scoreboard quite a bit this afternoon?

JAY HAAS: Not really. I might watch a few shots and things like that. Maybe learn something from where a guy's ball might be and the putts and things like that. But it is way too early to be scoreboard watching. I'm just, again, pleased with 3 under par here, and hopefully I can do some more that have this week or this next three days.

End of FastScripts.

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