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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 24, 2002

Bill Haas

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICHIGAN

CRAIG SMITH: All right. Obviously not the way you wanted to end. Tell us about hole 18, which was the pivotal one.

BILL HAAS: Sure. Off the tee, I got, I kind of hit it high on the fairways there and just carried that bunker. I don't know if it was unlucky. It didn't kick into the first cut but there's only three feet of rough in there. I had it somewhat -- I maybe could have gotten it up in the front of the green, not the front of the green but the front bunkers. But I was scared of going way left and having nothing up there, so I just laid out and he was in the bunker, there along for a bunker shot. I'm thinking four to win, five is going to probably halve. That's what I thought. Trying to tell myself that. So I laid up and then that third shot, I don't know if I hurried it. I was trying to hit a hard draw and sand wedge in there and just pushed it. And that's the one that really is chafing my ass.

CRAIG SMITH: The putt on 17, obviously, a very, very good one.

BILL HAAS: That was a good putt. I'm glad it dropped in there. It almost stayed short. Yeah, after that I never felt chills like that, I don't think. The crowd and everything when they yelled and that was pretty cool.

CRAIG SMITH: It seemed like Ricky just kept pulling rabbits out of his hat.

BILL HAAS: Yeah, he's a great player and he's got a big old dude, but he's got such good touch around the greens. Out of that rough you could say he muscles it, but he really knows how to hit a shot. He's played a lot of golf. He's played two Opens, he is going to play in the Masters, I'm proud of him. He hung in there well and he deserves to be there.

Q. On your lay-up on 18, did you hit it as far as what you wanted to have?

BILL HAAS: That was a perfect distance there. I just hit an awful shot. Maybe could have been a little closer because it was into the wind there. It was -- I had 101 uphill into the wind. I tried to smoke a sand wedge, it was awful. It was awful. Terrible.

Q. How close were you on that second shot to being more aggressive, it looked like you put a club back and took another one?

BILL HAAS: I had a 6-iron out and was just about to take swing, the only thing was that's probably what I would have hit. Just to see how it would go through the rough and that rough's nasty. That's not a great lie. And I was playing it safe. I would have made four, four out of 10 times, five out of 10 times. From that from a hundred yards. So it wasn't meant to be.

Q. The putt at 17, how much help did you get by seeing Ricky's putt there, which was exactly the same?

BILL HAAS: A lot. He was on the same line but he had the hill on the left affecting it so it pushed his more right but I could see I saw it from behind and, so I had a good line on it. Luckily that ball went in.

Q. What was that about 15, 18 feet?

BILL HAAS: Yeah, 15, 18, exactly.

Q. In match play, I guess you have to expect your opponent to make some heroic shots out there. He had some unbelievable shots. Did in any particularly surprise you?

BILL HAAS: That up-and-down on 13 was amazing I told him it was the best bunker shot I ever seen. Plugged lie, no green. He used that had slope perfect and the one on 12 everybody laughed that was a crowd-pleaser. Everybody thought that was great he threw it up on the fringe but that was all he had and really he could not get it close there. If it didn't go all the way up it was still going to roll back down. There was too much slope so it was going to roll back down. That one didn't surprise me. I said he was going to make four here and I have to make my putt. But the shot on 14 was a great shot. Over the pin there and, yeah, he deserves to be there, obviously. He made some unbelievable pars.

Q. You said you were proud of Ricky. How proud are you of yourself right now for playing as well as you have.

BILL HAAS: I was so happy to get this far. At this point, I'm so close, everybody is thinking about making The Master's. And that's, you know, and maybe it's a good thing. Maybe. I don't think I'm ready for that. Honestly, I don't think I'm ready to play in the Masters. 20 years old now and not good enough yet. That would have been an unbelievable experience and I wish I would have made it. I'll probably curse all the way home tonight, but that's just the way it goes. Hopefully now, another year under my belt, I get to play in this next year. I think this gets me in.

CRAIG SMITH: Oh, yeah, you had that earlier.

BILL HAAS: Beautiful. So hopefully I can make match play again next year. Never know.

Q. Are you going to come back tomorrow and watch Ricky or are you heading out?

BILL HAAS: I'm out of here. I wish I could. I will watch him on TV. Depend on if -- my parents are up here. We will probably get a flight home tonight. School starts Wednesday, I got to move into an apartment and things.

Q. Speaking of your parents, was it nice to have them here?

BILL HAAS: It was great. I knew my dad, I told him last night, I don't know if I made the cut yet or not, but if I miss I'll be there in the morning. If I make it then I won't. And he said my mom might be there. So it was kind of a surprise. I walked on the range and they were all sitting there. My uncle and coach came and I got a caddy at the Western Am this year and his whole family came up. And that meant a lot. So it was great having some support out there.

Q. What did you think of the crowds?

BILL HAAS: Awesome.

Q. As large as they were. Did that surprise you?

BILL HAAS: No, I think that's great. They were a little on top of you. But that doesn't bother me. I think that's pretty neat. I don't play in tournaments -- like the Western Am is kind of like that but they got ropes on every hole and how they are here, you've got to bear through them. Follow my blockers through some of them. It was, that was pretty neat. I liked it. I wish all of them were like that.

Q. Does this week take you a new level with your game?

BILL HAAS: I think so. I always thought I could do it. I'm pretty confident in myself. But to make it this far and every player I played was a great player. And to feel like I beat people and you know and I made it this far is enough to make me not upset, too upset about it.

Q. You seem to have a real quick pace of play. Is that normal for you?

BILL HAAS: Yeah. I don't like to wait at all. I hope the kids saw that. Slow play is the most ridiculous thing I ever season. It's a slow game you got to think a lot but after you hit your first shot you should already be hitting of your next shot. Sometimes I get too fast, it's a walking game and you take your time, but then again it's just a game. You should just play it.

CRAIG SMITH: One more.

Q. Your dad said before that he's jealous of how easy and how effortless it looks to play golf, to watch you play golf. Where does that come from? Him?

BILL HAAS: Maybe just watching, you see a guy hit a good shot and that's great. When you are playing, you're thinking and you're grinding and playing is much harder than actually seeing somebody do it. I guess if you're playing and you see somebody playing well, it looks pretty easy. But you think, he's just saying that. He's an incredible player and he's been so good for so long. I say the same thing about him. I caddied last week at the Buick and two weeks ago -- I guess, and I can say the same thing about him.

CRAIG SMITH: Medalist, semi-finalist and one shot away.

BILL HAAS: I appreciate it.

CRAIG SMITH: Good playing.

BILL HAAS: Thank you.

End of FastScripts....

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