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BELL CANADIAN OPEN

September 11, 2004

Bill Haas

OAKVILLE, ONTARIO

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Bill Haas, thanks for joining us for a couple minutes this afternoon. 4-under 67 puts you in the Top 10. Obviously that's one of your goals going into this week, obviously a great day for you.

BILL HAAS: Appreciate it. It was a lot of fun. Ball-striking-wise it was very sound. An easy day, if you hit fairways, you can go at pins, and if you hit some good shots, you can make some birdies. Yeah, I had a good group. It was just an easy and comforting day out there.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You haven't had a good finish out there every time out this year as a rookie on Tour, but you've made every cut but one since turning pro. That's quite an accomplishment.

BILL HAAS: I appreciate it. It's been difficult, I guess, to earn my card. That's the difficult part, I guess. I really played well enough to I think to already have done it. I had 84 the last round at Reno. Hopefully it doesn't happen again here, but I was in the Top 5 there going into the last round. Like at Hartford, I didn't have a great weekend. Booz Allen I was in the Top 10 and didn't have a great weekend. I'm shooting good rounds, I'm just not putting four of them together.

Even last week, a Top 10 last week, but I didn't shoot that 69 the last day instead of 73 to do what I needed to do. I've put three good solid rounds together and hopefully I'll have four tomorrow.

Q. First impressions of the PGA TOUR this year, the difference between this and the amateur? Anything stand out in your mind?

BILL HAAS: It's what I want to do. I mean, there's nothing about it so far that's made me decide to do something else with my life. You know, growing up I've always looked up to my father for what he did, how he did it, as good as he was at it. I kind of wanted to be that. I thought he had a pretty nice life. I've been lucky enough to grow up and have a pretty nice life, and it had to do with being on the golf course. It's definitely something I want to do. These first nine, ten weeks I've done it out here, it's been a lot of fun.

Q. Do you ever tell him to move over and let the young guys play?

BILL HAAS: No, I hope he keeps going. He's doing just fine out here. I don't see why he would go to the Senior Tour. It doesn't make much sense to me. If he can still Top 10 and at least contend to win every week, why would he go?

Q. You're one of the few -- you were 4-under today. It seems like everybody else is just hanging with what they've got or going backwards. Does that surprise you? What are the conditions like out there?

BILL HAAS: I guess when you shoot 4-under it can seem easy out there, but it really wasn't. I think two of my birdies were tap-ins. I knocked it on two par 5s in two. I didn't do anything outstanding, it just was consistent. Hole after hole I gave myself some looks at it, and occasionally you're going to drop one in. For me it wasn't that difficult. If you play well, no matter what the conditions are, you're going to score well.

Q. Two questions about the process here. A, did any good come out of the 84?

BILL HAAS: I hope. You know, everybody says it's a learning experience, you know, and -- I'll probably never forget it. It was pretty painful. It was a tough day. It wasn't 84 tough, but it was tough. Maybe it was. Maybe in the long run that was the best thing that could have happened that day. But when you're trying to get your Tour Card in seven starts, it's not the best thing.

Q. Secondly, was there anything to be gained from playing with Tiger in the third round -- whatever day that was, Sunday, really in the fire pan, not only -- second to the last group was it?

BILL HAAS: Right.

Q. And him going on with Vijay and you being right there? What do you get out of that and the attention that comes with it?

BILL HAAS: I think just playing with Tiger, just the experience of watching him play, listening to him on the golf course, how he thinks around the golf course. You know, I was very concerned with what I was doing, but I also had an open ear to what he was doing just to listen. I mean, it was a learning experience for me.

Yeah, hopefully that will carry over to me in the future, and hopefully it's not the last time I play with him.

Q. (Inaudible).

BILL HAAS: You know, he was good. He drove the ball very well with me. Just his thoughts on a certain shot, how to hit it, what the wind is doing. I stayed out of his business, but yeah, he's just impressive to watch play the game of golf. It's something I'll always remember.

Q. Just the sight of the gallery and the whole --

BILL HAAS: Yeah, I kind of like that. I think on the first three holes today it was a very big crowd because they were waiting for Mike and Vijay, and we played a couple of holes and that's where everybody is. There was some grandstands and everybody was kind of hanging out there. It's neat to do something well and have people cheer for you for doing something well. I enjoyed it and the crowd is definitely not anything that bothered me.

Playing with Tiger, it was more just playing with Tiger, people looking at you. I don't know, you kind of expect him to do -- I don't know how to explain it, but after the first couple of holes I was very comfortable last week, and I don't mind it.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about how -- a little bit more about how the course is playing today, especially compared to the last couple of days?

BILL HAAS: Yeah, I guess it's dried out a little bit, been great weather the last two days, and it was windy, but that's going to dry stuff out. Again, you're not going to touch the greens with water or the fairways so it's going to get harder if it stays nice overnight and tomorrow.

The pins, there were a few of them that were stupid. No. 17 I actually made birdie but it was almost impossible to get it close to because it was downwind. Fortunately I only had 80 yards so I could stop it.

You know, 16 is into the wind today. A good driver and a 5-iron, or 4-iron for most, pin is way left. I think by the end of the day I won't be in the Top 10. I think some guys are going to make some birdies. The wind will die down maybe in the afternoon. They've still got eight or seven holes to play, something like that, so I think I'll be Top 12 by the end of the day and go out there, and hopefully it's a little easier tomorrow.

Q. How much pressure do you feel -- we were talking earlier and I think you need about 13 this week?

BILL HAAS: That's what somebody told me, yeah. I don't know if that's completely accurate, but 13th or better would get me conditional status. I don't know what the purse is here. It must be a pretty good one. Or 8th. Somebody told me that's what I needed. Anyway, Top 10 is what I'm worried about because that gets me in next week. I'm trying to Monday qualify for next week, so it would be great if I could bypass that.

Q. Are you thinking Q-school at all?

BILL HAAS: I'm planning on going. I've already got flights. I'm going to Q-school, and every one of these weeks is just a bonus, money-wise, a bonus experience-wise, and then if I somehow have a couple great weeks, then maybe I can bypass it, but that was not the plan, no.

Q. Is that a scary proposition, going to Q-school?

BILL HAAS: No, I can make it. If I have to go or I don't, I'll make it either way.

Q. What do you like about your game right now?

BILL HAAS: I don't know. I drove the ball awful yesterday, but today I really drove it well. I've been driving the ball pretty good, so if you're driving the ball well on the PGA TOUR courses, you can score because the fairways are so good and the greens are so good and the rough is where you get in trouble. If I stay out of the rough I'll be all right.

Q. What's your status on Q-school? Do you get anything from --

BILL HAAS: If I get the cut at the Open I get to go back to second stage.

Q. Is that late October, early November?

BILL HAAS: Late October.

Q. Where are you going?

BILL HAAS: I think I'm going to Seaside, California.

Q. The black course?

BILL HAAS: Could be, yeah.

I'll probably go check it out. I've heard it's good.

End of FastScripts.

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