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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 25, 2004

Jay Haas

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY

JULIUS MASON: At this time we'd like to welcome Jay Haas to the media center. Jay, welcome to Valhalla and the 65th Senior PGA Championship. Playing in his first Senior PGA Championship, playing in his first Champions Tour event. Very familiar with golf course as he played in the 1996 and the 2000 PGA Championship. And he's number 12 on the Ryder Cup points list. I wonder what we're going to talk about today? Jay, welcome to Louisville, welcome to Valhalla, some opening comments and we'll go to Q and A.

JAY HAAS: Well, I got quite a few mixed emotions, I suppose, coming here, a place that I've competed at a couple times now in Majors. But at the same time it's quite a bit different being my first Champions Tour event, seeing guys that I haven't seen in a long time, that I know very well. It's kind of odd. Most of the time on the regular TOUR I have to ask my caddie who half the guys are on the range because of how many young players are out there now. But I'm anxious, I'm nervous about it, I'm excited about it. I'm looking forward to it. I got a great pairing, I saw, with Stads and Fuzzy. Looking forward to that part of it. But it's a new thing. I've never done anything like this before. Somebody asked me when was the last time I was a pre-tourney favorite or one of the favorites and I said maybe never. When I was 12 in a junior event. But this is a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the week.

JULIUS MASON: We have some wireless microphones. Let's take some questions.

Q. Have you played this course this week?

JAY HAAS: I have not. I'm getting ready to go after this.

Q. So you can't answer with any kind of certainty the setup compared to the last time?

JAY HAAS: Somebody said the rough wasn't very difficult, it wasn't extremely difficult like a typical Major might be. I think Ed Fiori said the rough last week last week was much tougher than it is here. But that's just one person's opinion, I don't know. I would think that distance wise it's not going to be a great deal different than what we played in 2000. It will be a little shorter because No. 2 is a four now instead of a five, but don't know about the speed of the greens. The putting green, I did putt on the putting green, it seems pretty darn quick. So I think it's going to be setup pretty strong. Sorry, I can't give you anything better than that.

Q. How did you do here those other two times?

JAY HAAS: I played -- I think I made the cut both times, but not very well. I think the last in 2000 I had a couple good round and a couple.

JULIUS MASON: Tie 64 and tie 31 in '96.

Q. Does this course fit your eye?

JAY HAAS: I like Jack's courses, I played well at Muirfield Village and I like the way it looks. There's a couple holes that I think are, that don't fit me as well. But overall I do like the golf course.

Q. Could you talk about expectations from yourself this week being your first senior tournament and is it a different feeling going in, being the tournament favorite and what you expect?

JAY HAAS: Yeah, it's very different. I've played well on the regular TOUR for a couple years now and it seems like I go into a tournament out there and I read the paper maybe and the local writers or somebody will pick 10 guys and I'm never in there. Which is fine with me. It's good incentive to try to prove them wrong. But hopefully I won't prove them wrong this week. That wouldn't be good. But I just, like I said, I never have been in this position, being the first event here, I've got nothing but well wishes from all the guys, though. Giving me some good natured ribbing about how old I am and I'm one of the old guys now and things like that. But it's -- I think once I get out there on Thursday, hit some shots, get some holes under my belt, it will -- I'll relax and hopefully play like I've been playing.

Q. Will how you play this week have any bearing at all on how you schedule the rest of your year, how many tournaments you may play on the Champions Tour versus the regular TOUR, take it week by week?

JAY HAAS: Probably not. Right now I'm scheduled to play in the British Senior Open and the U. S. Senior Open, up through the NEC tournament in Akron, I guess. That takes me the week after the PGA. By that time I'll know where I stand on the Ryder Cup, whether I made it or not. And if I do make it, then I'll go one way maybe in the fall and if I don't, then I'll maybe play more Champions Tour golf. So this week I don't think will dictate a lot of that. Hopefully a good week here will give me another boost -- I think any time you play well, no matter what competition, what field, what age group, whatever, it's, for me, it's a boost to my confidence if I can play well.

Q. What part of your game the last couple years has elevated you to play like you have the last year and a half, two years?

JAY HAAS: I think my short game has improve quite a bit. Putting and chipping. My scrambling stats that I notice on the computer are very good. Up-and-down around the green quite often. That's obviously helped. I think equipment has been a big factor. I think it's allowed me to hit the ball farther. Most of the courses that we play I've played for 25 years and so I'm hitting the ball off the tee farther than I ever have before. It's a gradual thing. It's unusual. I would have never thought that, when we first started it was steel shafts and wooden headed drivers and the ball just didn't -- 250, 255 was a good drive for me. So they have lengthened holes, they have lengthened golf courses that we play, but I'm still, I feel like I'm capable, I feel like physically I can still do it. It's just I think I've gone into the last few years with an, I won't say "I don't care attitude", but just kind of a nothing to lose attitude. I feel like this is all gravy. I've, you know, when I started at 23 I guess I was, I felt like if I could play 20 years and be somewhat successful and put some money away it would be a good career, I would figure something else out to do then. But I would have never dreamed this, to win a million dollars in a year, that was a career. Early on in the late 70's I think there were only a couple guys that had gone over a million in career earnings. So that was -- I couldn't foresee the fact that we were going to play for so much money. That's kept every one more interested too. I think that's a factor that a lot of people have overlooked, a reason that the guys 40 and over are doing so well is they're still trying. They're still out here doing it. And 25 years ago last two years I finished 90th, in the 90s on the Money List and made 7 or 800 thousand. 25 years ago 90th on Money List, I'm back to Monday qualifying, I'm making 20,000 a year, and that just didn't add up. So most of the guys when they got into their 40, early, mid 40s, if they did that for a few years they just said, you know, I got to find something else to do, I got to make a living. So the money has kept a lot of us going out here.

Q. Two questions. Have you got an AARP card yet?

JAY HAAS: I do not have a card. I've gotten a few letters and I just file them into the trash there.

Q. And how close was your call to play here or Memphis? Was it a close call?

JAY HAAS: Yeah, it was. I guess the closer it got the more committed I was to playing here. But early on in the year -- I love Memphis. I've played very well there. And I guess I feel like if I am going to put the time in I ought to try to play in tournaments that I can get points at for the Ryder Cup. But I don't want to second guess myself at the end of this week and say, gosh, I should have gone to Memphis. But I can't do that. And I feel like I'm going to play enough events on the regular TOUR, if I play well enough, I'll get the points, I'll make the team. If I don't play well, then I won't. And I don't think if I add one or two events is going to make a difference. I just -- the Major tournaments, I'm going to play in three more Majors between now and the end. And that's going to be the, to me, the tell tale sign. If can I play well in those Majors I'll get the points that I need and move forward. But if I don't, I think I could play every single week from now until the end and it wouldn't matter.

Q. Just as a dad is it surprising to you to hear that some of the younger girls who come calling to just check on you want to know whether Billy is going to be here or not?

JAY HAAS: Yeah, both my boys, they don't have any trouble in that department, I guess. Bill seems to attract them like the pied piper kind of thing. I'm jealous.

Q. Going back to the way you're hitting the ball off the tee, just tell us what you use off the tee, your driver, what degree, the loft and things like that?

JAY HAAS: Right. I play Titleist equipment and I use a 9.5, 975 K driver. And my 3-wood is a Callaway 4 plus. And I use that as a 3-wood. And I probably hit that longer than I hit my driver 25 years ago. I was -- when they first did the stats I think I was 253, 252, that was my average. And this year I'm like 278. So I've gone up about 10 percent in distance. And my old driver looks about like my 5-wood did with 10 degrees of loft maybe, it's the size of my 5-wood now. So it's very strange. But that's -- I think when they first did those stats too Dan Pohl and one other player were the only two players over 270. That's pretty hard to believe, just that 20 years ago.

Q. May be too soon to tell, but as your first Champions Tour event, your first Champions Tour Major, any difference in the feel or the atmosphere versus the regular TOUR. Talking to the guys, is there any thoughts you can share on that?

JAY HAAS: Maybe a little different feel. Maybe not quite as intense. When we have played here in the past -- this is a great town to play. And they really support it great. People come out in full force here. And so for a Tuesday practice round there's maybe not as many people as there would be at in 2000, when you had Tiger and being the best in the world and on the top of his game, so that might be a little bit different, but maybe the players attitudes a little bit. Everybody kind of back slapping and things like that maybe a little less intense.

Q. And you don't have to answer questions about Tiger's game?

JAY HAAS: Well, that's true.

Q. Unless you want to, of course.

JAY HAAS: Yeah. But it has a little different feel, but I think when Thursday comes, I think it will still be the low score wins and it's bogeys hurt and birdies help.

JULIUS MASON: Questions? Questions twice? Good luck this week, Jay.

JAY HAAS: All right. Thank you all very much.

End of FastScripts.

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