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WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIPMay 3, 2005Jay HaasBill HaasJerry HaasCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you for joining us. We have Jerry Haas, Bill Haas and Jay Haas with us, and we appreciate you coming in together. You all played a round out there today. Make some comments about your day and let us know what they told you. BILL HAAS: Today was great. I was laid back, and I'm personally working on a few things so I was trying to focus on the golf, but it was with Billy Andrade out there, it was just four buddies playing golf, I guess. JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: This has to be a pretty special week for you. JAY HAAS: Yeah, it is. Jerry played last year and Bill two years ago, and to have them both in the field, just to have a tournament back here at Quail Hollow, I lived here for five years back in the late 70s, early 80s, Bill was born here, and when the old Kemper was here, the course used to beat me up badly and then it left, but I'm still a member here, and just to see this tournament become what it has is a great thing, and to be here playing with these guys is all that much more special. JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Jerry, it's nice you have an opportunity to get away from Wake Forest. It's probably time for a little break from the NCAAs. Why don't you talk even about Wake Forest and the opportunity to play this week. JERRY HAAS: Well, it's certainly special. I qualified through the section; there was two spots available. I qualified March 21st so I've had a lot of time to think about it, like I did last year. JAY HAAS: Nightmares. JERRY HAAS: I'm sleeping better this year than I did last year. The course is in excellent shape, as always. The greens are fantastic. You know, I watched Bill play for four years and it was always a pleasure to watch him, and I know he'd like to be doing better than he is, but I think he's doing fantastic. Of course, my brother Jay, everybody asks me, boy, he's been doing well the last couple of years. Well, the last 28 years he's been doing pretty well. Just watching these two guys play, and somebody said, "Well, hopefully you'll be the low Haas this week," and I said, "Well, if I beat these guys I'm playing pretty well because I'm sure they will play well." Q. Your history here with this club, could you give us your idea of how the Tour was able to come back here in May, which is essentially NASCAR high days, and be so successful in such a short period of time? JAY HAAS: Well, I don't know much about what went on behind the scenes other than Johnny Harris, the president of the club, and a nucleus of people who got behind the fact that they wanted a golf tournament, whether it be a TOUR Championship, a PGA. Johnny was involved in Tom Fazio coming here I guess about six years ago, giving the course a facelift, a major facelift, and making it a place where a tournament would work and a major tournament perhaps would work. I think ultimately that was his goal, but what they've created here in the minds of many of the players and myself is a tournament that is one of the best, if not the best, that we play all year long, just from A to Z. The golf course, number one, is a wonderful golf course; they've done a great job with that. And just the fact that if the players ask, they get usually an affirmative answer, whatever they're asking for or about. It's just everybody that I talk to is ecstatic with everything. But number one, to me, when I make a schedule out, I look at the golf course and I think they've done a great job with that. But as far as the date goes, I don't know. I think that -- I don't know when this course plays best, later in the year you probably get more growth with the Bermuda rough and things like that. I think they can get the greens fast here any time of the year. Whether this course wants or if the PGA say would come here, would they still play the Wachovia in May and the PGA in August, I don't know, but certainly the players, I think, vote that this could hold up to something like that. But as far as the timing of it against NASCAR and everything, they've been sold out for a long time here and they've just created something that's the toughest ticket in town basically. They don't have to worry about that competition maybe. Q. With this being the first time all three of you are playing the event together like this, when you were out there today and you walked around and you saw your brother and your son, any special emotions start to bubble up a little bit and say, really, can it get any better than this? JAY HAAS: Yeah, and I think I've had that a little bit about Bill. We've played together eight or ten times over the last year, maybe the last two or three years. He played in Greensboro when he was maybe a sophomore or junior in college, but always when I see him playing, it's a great feeling for me. My son Jay, Jr., tried to qualify for a spot yesterday and shot a couple over. There was a playoff at 2-under. That was my dream, I guess, for Sunday night. I was thinking about him trying to qualify on Monday. If he could have been in the foursome, that would have really made it unbelievable. But yeah, when Jerry qualified, he called me that night and knew that Bill had an exemption here. It was just something that I was really looking forward to, just about the whole deal here, again, being a member here, living here for a while, having so many great friends here, and like I said, looking on the green there and four guys from Wake Forest, my brother and son. I would have never thought any of that could have been possible 20 years ago say. Q. How about either of the other two guys, any special emotion out there today, looking around and seeing the whole family out there having a great time? JERRY HAAS: I didn't really feel that, guess, too much. I've played with Jay and played with Bill a lot, and I guess if I start thinking about that, then I wouldn't be able to draw it back. I didn't play particularly well today, so hopefully -- I saw my pairing. It's two guys I don't know, so that will help me. There was a little pressure I felt on myself today trying to, I don't know, stay out of the way in a way. Billy Harmon said, you know, you qualified for the event so don't feel that way at all. But that's hard to do. I've looked up to my brother Jay for many years; he's been a great player and a great brother, and I think Bill here is -- I hate to say it in front of Jay, but I think he's more talented. I think he could be an even better player, and time will tell. I don't know how many events Bill has played on the Tour, but I'm sure Jay looks at it and he flashes back to when he was 22, 23 years old, and Bill wants to do great and everything, and I say, well, if you're still out here 20 years from now, then you'll be doing great. That's what people look at, the longevity of it. Q. If Jay is still out here in 20 years he'll be doing great (laughter). JAY HAAS: The Legends down in Savannah. Q. That was your first bounceback this year? JAY HAAS: First of the year. Q. Did you take anything away from it, not so much how you played but the atmosphere there and coming back to this Tour? JAY HAAS: They had terrible weather on the weekend there. It didn't rain, but they had some unbelievable winds on Sunday, and I certainly wouldn't come out to watch anybody play on a Sunday, and they didn't have very good crowds, a little bit down from what they were expecting. You know, it's a different feeling. It's different when you go on the range. The guys just don't have that edge to them, I guess, that you do out here. All the players are -- most of them are younger than me and they're fighting to get to a certain position, and so they're grinding and there's not a lot of cutting up on the range and things like that. I saw guys out there that -- I saw Curtis, I hadn't seen him, Bruce Lietzke, Bill Rogers, some of my buddies from when they were playing out here. We laughed and kidded and joked. You see it some out here but not as much, I guess. The atmosphere of the whole tournament, it just doesn't have that -- the intensity, I guess, that you see out here. And again, that's a regular Champions Tour event. Now, the Senior PGA, U.S. Open, those, they seem to have a little bit more of that cutting edge that you see out here. Q. Do you have a better time out here? JAY HAAS: You know, it's a good time both ways. I think I enjoy the fact of competing against the best in the world here and see where I stack up there, but at the same time I enjoyed playing down there and having a chance. Each time I've been there so far, I've played pretty well. I don't know, I like this better, I suppose, right now. Q. This might not be the right word, but do you find yourself grinding as hard there or do you find yourself more relaxed there? JAY HAAS: To me, golf is golf. If I have a 5-iron shot, no matter if it's at Quail Hollow or the Savannah Harbor Club there, it's still a 5-iron shot, it's still a tough shot. I want to perform, I want to play well, so yes, to me, during the golf it's the same. Q. Do you get nervous on the first tee there? JAY HAAS: Oh, yeah. Q. Could you comment on the closing holes here at Quail Hollow and just how difficult they are? Last year on 17 we saw Joey make a birdie and Arron make a bogey there. JAY HAAS: 16 is not as spectacular as 17 and 18 but probably just as hard as any hole out here. It was into the wind, 487 to a green that kind of is -- you're standing out there, it looks like you're hitting to an arm; too long it goes over, too short you're in the bunker. So those three holes are probably as difficult as any we play all year. 17 green is a tough green to hit, and then 18 with the pretty tight fairway and water. Probably if you're leading the tournament, you want to be leading by about five or six going into those last three holes. Yes, difficult. Q. How much do you three talk with each other about golf and your games throughout the year, and are you sort of a support for each other at different times and perhaps even in different ways, one being a father, one being a coach, one being a son, et cetera? JERRY HAAS: I talk to Jay probably three or four times a week, probably Bill not as much, but I talk to Bill probably once a week. This will be the only event I'll play this year. The Wake Forest golf team, we're waiting to find out where we go to regionals, and they have exams this week so it's a good week for me to do this. I look so forward to Thursdays and Fridays on the computer when Bill is playing and Jay is playing, I guess I'm like a golf fan those days. I can't wait to -- I'll refresh it, "Come on, Bill, need a birdie here," just talk to myself. Last week Bill was in the Nationwide event and I saw they cut it to 54 holes, so I didn't put two and two together. There was three courses and I saw he shot 71-73, so I thought, well, he missed the cut. Then that night I wanted to see who won, and I'm scrolling down and there he is, 66. It made my whole night, so I had to call him right away and tell him that. I think we are a support group for each other, but no -- when you're not playing well, no one likes to talk about it. We talk about other things besides golf, too. Q. What are some of the perks and special services that you've noticed that are special about this event? We've heard about the Mercedes and the doughnut maker making fresh doughnuts. Talk about some of the things here that are special. BILL HAAS: Well, the Mercedes is a good one for me personally. I drove up here so I have my own car, but then you can just put that one on the side of the road and drive a Mercedes all week. If you need anything this week, they seem to treat you like you're something special, so that's nice. Q. Do they do that in other tournaments, as well? BILL HAAS: Well, I haven't had as much experience, but no, I don't think so, not like this week, the ones I've played in. On the regular PGA TOUR they treat you very nice, but here they seem to cater to all your needs? Q. Two questions. For the record, what is the regular car that you traded in for your Mercedes this week? What do you normally drive? BILL HAAS: Tahoe. Q. Last year was a bit of a race through Deutsche Bank, through Canada to try and get enough money from your exemptions. What is it like this year pressure-wise when you come to a tournament, given that it's kind of piecemeal, a couple early, maybe a couple later where it's not bunched together? Do you still feel as much pressure every time you play as you did last year? BILL HAAS: I think it's the same. Last year I didn't feel as much as people talked about. I had a goal that came up short. This year I've got a couple goals that I'm focused on. I feel pressure over a three-footer because I don't want to miss it, not because I'm worried about 10 grand or whatever it might cost by missing it. I try to stay in the moment, I guess, but yeah, I've got a full year on the Nationwide Tour and that's kind of where I'm focused and these are bonus weeks, and I'd love to play really well this week and jump all that stuff. Q. You see these are bonus weeks. Last year they were your weeks? Is that kind of the difference? JAY HAAS: I didn't have anything else last year. I was happy to get a spot; and the same this year, I'm happy to get a spot out here, but I have another Tour that I'm a member of, so it is a little different, I guess. Q. How many have you taken this year, fourth or fifth? JAY HAAS: This is the fifth one. Q. Have you looked at the other two, any idea what they are? BILL HAAS: I'm in the Memorial. JERRY HAAS: That doesn't count as one of his seven, though. BILL HAAS: No, it's an invite, invitational, and since I won the Jack Nicklaus award in college, it's written down somewhere, Jack says, "I'm going to give a spot to my award winner in college," and it doesn't count as a sponsor exemption. I'd actually get eight if I could get them. Q. I'm just curious, the way the schedule has fallen together, how tough has it been to build any momentum? BILL HAAS: I think on the Nationwide Tour it's been tough because there's one in Panama, two weeks later there's two in Australia and New Zealand and three weeks later there's one in Louisiana, then I think we had three weeks off after that and there was one in Virginia Beach, and now it's every week. So I think now is when you start to get momentum out there. I think I'll answer that better later. Q. Do you guys have any wagers between y'all on who is going to do the best this weekend, any side bets? JERRY HAAS: I'd say Jay is the favorite and Bill is like a 7-to-1 and I'm about a 100-to-1 shot over here if you had to rank them. JAY HAAS: We had a match today. Bill and I played Jerry and Billy Andrade, and -- JERRY HAAS: They dusted us pretty bad. We triple pressed on the last hole and it still wasn't enough. Q. Are you playing next week, Jay? JAY HAAS: No. Q. Will you all have dinner together this week? JAY HAAS: Bill and I are staying together, and Jerry, I don't know if he's going to commute -- JERRY HAAS: I'm going back home tonight and the office tomorrow and then I'll be back over tomorrow night, staying over here and then playing -- I'm 8:54 on Thursday morning. JAY HAAS: We kind of cramp Bill's style, too, going out to dinner. JERRY HAAS: So I'll be commuting.
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.
End of FastScripts. |
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