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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 7, 2010

Jay Haas

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

JAY HAAS: I'm real disappointed right now. 4-over the last five holes. You know, I guess I had some dreams of making the cut. You know, doing some good things, but just couldn't finish.

Q. Do you feel like even -- you've been out here a long time. Do you have a pretty good idea that that won't get it done? Because there is a chance if wind picks up maybe --
JAY HAAS: I would think there is no chance. 1-under is kind of iffy, so even par is definitely out. You know, it's never easy. I haven't missed a cut in a while because I haven't had any cuts in tournaments, so it's never fun to do that. Especially the way I finished, made 6 on 18, that is disappointing. So Bill was playing well, so that kind of takes the sting out a little bit, but sure wish I could have been playing on the weekend.

Q. Are you going to watch him?
JAY HAAS: Tomorrow night, he and I are doing a little thing tomorrow night, so I'm staying around at least until then, so I'll probably watch him tomorrow and sweat a little bit tomorrow.

Q. Yesterday Kenny stood in this exact spot, Kenny Perry, and said, I cannot wait to get on the Champions Tour; I am tired and looking forward to it. Can you relate to that?
JAY HAAS: Yeah, I can. I've been here since Monday, and I remember now what it was like. You're just trying so hard and grinding and grinding and grinding. You know, if you're not getting any results -- he certainly is, but at the same time after 30 years you just kind of say, okay, that's enough. It looks like those guys are having a ton of fun out there and that's where I want to go.
I think Kenny will probably still play PGA TOUR stuff, but you know, maybe he gets a little rest in the off-season, comes out and plays good. But sounds like he's real excited about it, and that's great for us. It makes it tougher, but it's great for the field and great for the sponsors and all that. So it's good to hear that he's interested and wants to play.

Q. You guys still are competitive, so what is the difference on that Tour? What makes it more relaxed and more fun?
JAY HAAS: Gosh, I don't know. It's kind of hard to put my finger on it, what the difference is. I think it's, you know, most of the tournaments are three-round events, some are four. But I don't know. I don't know what the difference is. Smaller fields, you know, with no cuts except for a few of the major tournaments we have a cut. I don't know why it's more relaxing.
I think it's just not do-or-die so much like it is out here when we were younger and trying to make our way. I think that's a big, big part of it is not that that we've made it by any means, but if it went away tomorrow we'd be okay. You know, this has been a good ride. Now the Champions Tour is just kind of icing on the cake.

Q. Can you talk about the first hole and the great shot there and then the great putt later on?
JAY HAAS: Yeah, I hit a terrible iron shot. My irons were not good, have not been good for a while, and they didn't get much better this week. I hit a good drive and a bad iron in the bunker, hit this bunker shot. Just trying to get it rolled down there and get a four- or five-footer, and it went in. I did not see it go in. I was hitting right into the sun, and it was kind of over this hill.
A great way to start. I made a nice birdie at 2. Then it said I was 50 feet six inches or something at No. 5 and made this putt right in the middle. Almost made one from like 49 feet at No. 8 and just burned the edge.
I was hitting some great shots. I was playing very, very well. And had a decent chance at 12 for birdie, missed. Made a nice par at 13, and then just hit a terrible drive at 14, but knocked it on the green probably 30 feet and hit that one by 15 feet. I just misread the speed and hit it a little firm. I three-putted there.
Bad drive at 15 led to a bogey and then hit it in the water at 18. I thought I wanted to be 2-under. 1-under I think is going to be a little iffy, too. I was trying to squeeze another par out of No. 18, but just pulled it a little bit, and I'd like to have it again.

Q. Is there any way to take this kind of as a little bit of momentum though? You've played well on a difficult golf course.
JAY HAAS: Yes and no. I think coming in here I played terribly on Sunday last week in Biloxi and was disappointed and just didn't know. I thought, wow, I might shoot a couple of 80s and be awful here this week. So I kind of had a chance and that was neat.
But at the same time we're all competitors. I'm no different than everybody. I want to shoot as good as I can each day. Got a couple of weeks off now and then our Senior PGA. So hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can get a little more confident with my long game. I'm just not hitting enough good shots to kind of sustain a role. Just a couple bad drives led to a couple of bogeys. Then the one at 18 led to a double. So I just need to be better with my tee-to-green game.

Q. Is it easier to move past this with the success Bill is having out there? And how much will you transition from competitor out here to cheering for your son?
JAY HAAS: It's certainly easier than when he was not out here. Ten years ago I would be -- well, number one, I wouldn't be talking to you guys. You wouldn't have been interviewing me at 46 and missing the cut. But, yeah, you know, it happened and it's over.
But, yeah, I'm excited for Bill. He's been playing really well. Hopefully he can keep that up. I'm anxious to come out and watch him tomorrow and see what he can do. He's been playing well tee-to-green, and I talked to him on the phone. He said I played as good as I've played all year today. He's told me that about half a dozen times already in the last month or so. So that's kind of neat to see.

Q. What do you think the change in him is this year?
JAY HAAS: Physically I think he's swinging better. I think he's hitting better shots. But I think just by winning it just proved to him that he can do that and he deserves to be in these last groups or trying to win a golf tournament.
He wants to be more consistent, and I think he's realizing what he has to do to be more consistent, whether it be to be patient, take a 3-wood off the tee instead of a driver in some places, hit to the middle of the green, play for bogey, just all the little things that you have to do to kind of hang in there, and I think he's learning to do that.

Q. You said that the Champions Tour is like the icing on the cake. But in this economic climate, do you get a sense that some guys, maybe their portfolios have taken a huge hit; they're looking like I've got to get out there and replenish?
JAY HAAS: I don't think any of us have enough. But I think it's just the competition I think is what keeps us going to be able to still compete out here.
You know, to stand up on the 18th hole and make a good shot and make a birdie to win a tournament, that's what we kind of play for out here. So to still be able to do that in a quality tournament and a Champions Tour event with a pretty good field against some Hall of Fame players, if you can do that, it's pretty gratifying. So I think that's why the guys still continue to play.

Q. You made some history out here earlier this week with the most starts career. Does it add to the disappointment at all that you were very close to being the oldest player to make the cut here?
JAY HAAS: You know, I don't think -- no. I don't think I could be any more disappointed, so I couldn't add to it. 26, 36, 56, whatever it is, it's hard to take.

End of FastScripts

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