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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 23, 2008

Jay Haas

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

KELLY ELBIN: Jay Haas, the 2006 Senior PGA Champion, joining us two rounds into the 69th Senior PGA Championship. 2-over par 72 today. Jay, 1-over par for the championship through two rounds. Feel pretty good where you are? All things considered.
JAY HAAS: All things considered I didn't play nearly as well today. I hit a lot off the fringe, just, you know, it just wasn't quite as sharp. But could have gotten away with it, toward the end there I made a couple bogeys, couple bad swings.
But I thought it was a tougher day even though it was cold yesterday, the wind wasn't blowing quite as much. And this afternoon I thought the course was pretty difficult. But that's usually what happens when you don't play as well, the course seems a lot harder.
But, yeah I like my position. Probably, again, probably would have taken it after two days. You just never know what kind of scores are going on out there, but I felt like with Mark O'Meara shooting 4-under and a few other guys under par most of the day, that it was probably somewhat of an easier day. But it was not for me.
KELLY ELBIN: Could you go through birdies and bogeys and unfortunately that double bogey.
JAY HAAS: Yeah. You want me to start on 10 where I started?
KELLY ELBIN: Please.
JAY HAAS: Okay. Made a couple nice saves early on and then 15 I just hit a poor 6-iron shot left. Pitched that to the fringe and putted up to about two and a half feet and actually my 4-footer for double was one of my better shots of the day.
But then played three really nice holes. Had good chances at 16 and 17. And hit an 8-iron to about eight feet at 18 and made that.
1, I hit a drive in the right rough and hit a pitching wedge to about 15 feet. And made that.
5, I missed the green to the right with a 7-iron, not a very good shot there. I was probably that was probably one of my three real poor shots today. Pitched that up to about 15 feet, 2-putted.
7, I drove in the left rough, couldn't reach the green, pitched it to 18 feet short and missed that.
So just not as sharp. Didn't hit many fairways, didn't hit many greens. But kept it around where I should, where I didn't, except for 16 or 15, you can't miss it right there, you can't miss it left. And it was kind of where I just couldn't play it.
KELLY ELBIN: Open it up for questions.

Q. Nice to see Tom up there?
JAY HAAS: He must have cut me down to about four minutes here. He's one of my best buddies out here. And I saw him in front of me and it looked like he was really playing well. Didn't really look like he made a lot of putts, he just hit it, he was all around the hole today. And he's been, I don't think by his own admission probably hasn't played that well recently, but he went to see Butch a few weeks ago and I think that he looks like he's going to hit a good shot to me he every time. It's a beautiful swing that he has. It looked like it was an easy day for him.

Q. He came in and he said at the end there he talked about the course and he called it maybe borderline too tough. It's gotten to the point now where you really, you're a yard off the fairway you can't do anything with it. Give us your assessment of, I mean, is it borderline too tough right now?
JAY HAAS: The cut's going to be 11 or 12 over. And I guess I just remember my first venture into Major Championship golf 30 years ago, 25 years ago, and the cuts were high, 7, 8, 9, 10 over par. And that to me is championship golf. I don't know, you know, somebody spread the rumor that they cut the rough today. I don't think they did.
I won't say it's too tough. But you can't get many balls on the green from the rough. I was able to -- No. 1 today I drove it in the right, the primary rough and it was kind of thin and I knocked it on the green there and made a birdie.
But generally you have a really hard time reaching the green. The entrances are pretty narrow in the front of the green. So you're not going to get many balls on the green from the rough.

Q. You alluded earlier to the fact that you did good, but you didn't play your best today. So how pleased are you to be one shot back?
JAY HAAS: Pretty pleased. Because I felt like I hit a lot of solid shots today. I can kind of go through it. But number 10, I hit it just out of the left rough, hit it right at the flag and I was fooled by the wind and came up short in the bunker.
13, I hit a, I drove it in the rough and laid up and hit a 5-wood right over the top of the flag and it was this far into the back fringe there.
14, I hit a sand wedge and one hopped just this far over the green, 12 feet from the flag.
So I had hit a lot of good shots that didn't end up good, but you know, that's just the nature of golf. And so, yeah, I'm, somebody said, well you're only going to hit seven fairways and six greens, you know, 72's not a bad score when you look at that time that way.
KELLY ELBIN: For the record, Jay only had 25 putts, 111-putts. Okay. Jay Haas, thank you very much.
JAY HAAS: Thanks, guys.

End of FastScripts

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