GREATER GREENSBORO CHRYSLER CLASSIC

April 25, 2002

Bill Haas

JAY HAAS: People have asked if this is a dream come true for you and honestly it isn't because I never would have dreamt anything that great. Number one I can't imagine playing as long as I have played. For a son of mine to be old enough to be as good as Bill is and also my son Jay is to warrant an exemption into a PGA TOUR event. I didn't know if I was going to be around that long. Who would have thought that either one of my sons would be as accomplished as they are. They have exceeded all of my expectations of them in golf. They continue to amaze me in many ways. With that being said, I'm just proud as heck to have Bill and reminisce a little bit about 20 some plus years ago when I played the GEO at the Sedgefield, played with Arnold Palmer. Obviously at that age I'm not thinking about having any children or anything like that at that time. To have that time go by that fast and to go by that quickly and to continue -- and to have thought this day would come in my wildest dreams, I would -- I'm looking forward to it.

People have asked me if Bill is going to beat me and I said I hope he doesn't. I feel like I'm playing pretty well. Hopefully I will be a good standard for him. He is playing very well. We played a practice round yesterday. I'm really looking forward to it. When it was last Monday Mark Brazil came over and awarded this exemption to Bill on behalf of Chrysler who we can not thank enough. It is great to give Bill an opportunity, but when it was finally announced it just hit me. I just had goosebumps, got all emotional. I never thought this would ever happen. But once it happened and announced, it really hit home. I'm looking so forward to having a good week, seeing that they are going to have to put a JA and a B Haas and hopefully one of us play well enough to get our names on the leader board.

BILL HAAS: It's a huge honor. Last week I was down at the ACC tournament, the ACC golf tournament, and I played with Dustin Gray (phonetic), who won the ACC Championship and he was talking about how he asked for an exemption. He didn't say he was mad or upset that he didn't get in. He kind of hinted that towards me and he ended up winning the ACC Championship and I'm here playing on a sponsor exemption. Being asked is a great honor. Other players could have been given the spot as an amateur, Chrysler, unbelievable, they asked me to play and then to play with my dad, I have looked up to him all these years, that is the reason I play golf. Because of him I see him do it and I want to do it. His lifestyle, on the course and off the course, I love watching him do it. If I could some day in the next 20 years do what he has done, it would be a wonderful career. This is a small step towards it.

JAY HAAS: Those 30 years have gone by so quickly, I look at some of those pictures, I probably look like I was about 12 back then, I wish I could trade places with Bill. He's got a lot to look forward to. It's a great time.

Q. Do you think you can still win out here, Jay?

JAY HAAS: I have to believe that. I can't think. I am just out here going through the motions. Obviously it will be a longshot, but there haven't been many guys in their 40s and 50s and older that have won a tournament but at the same time I was leading at the Bob Hope this year going in with 6 holes left basically folded up there, but I had a pretty good chance. At Houston, I finished up 40 a long way a way behind Vijay Singh, but as a golfer you have to believe that you can win at any time. I wouldn't feel like I'm preparing myself for the Senior Tour. I feel like I'm out here focusing on this week, tomorrow's round, obviously the better I do out here the better I will do on the Senior Tour. The years go by too fast right now and I wouldn't want to take anything a way. Yes, I have got to think that I can win out here.

Q. What are the similarities between your game and Bill's game?

JAY HAAS: I think the want-to from Bill at a very young age, he wanted to play, desire to get out there on his own, when it was cold and raining, chip and putt, nobody really told him to do things like that, to practice extra hard. He has out there many times when I've had to call him in for dinner. When it's dark when he is still chipping and putting on the 7th green at Thornblade in Greenville. That is something you don't teach. That is desire and drive and want-to. You either have it or you don't.

Q. What do you think about the tournament moving to the fall, Jay?

JAY HAAS: I think it's a win for the players and a win for the tournament. I think the field will be better in the future here. This is a tough day for Greensboro even though it's in the proximity of Hilton Head and Augusta is great, a lot of people go to Augusta and then Hilton Head, since it's a neat place and then take this week off before they go to Dallas and Colonial and all that. The last six or eight years the field at the end of the year have improved, the value placed on your position, the top 30 in THE TOUR Championship, the top 40 in the Masters, top 50 in the world ranking, there is so much emphasis on those numbers now it is not just about top 125 anymore. So you are going to get a nice mix of players and a lot more top players in the field in the fall.

Q. How is the course?

JAY HAAS: I don't know how it could be better but right now it's the best I have ever seen it. The fairways are like carpets out there. The rough is up. I think you will have the whole year to tweak the course one way or the other, how you want it. I think it's a bonus for the fans, the players, the tournament.

Q. When did you start playing golf, Bill?

BILL HAAS: I started when I was about 11. I never -- I don't remember much with my dad. All I do remember is riding around in a cart. I don't remember playing much golf before I was 11. I remember going to summer camp when I was 11 years old, didn't have anything to do with my dad. It was at the club. I enjoyed going out and playing nine holes and keeping score. It wasn't just hitting balls. It was trying to score better. Then at the beginning of high school I decided I wanted to play college golf and then pursue a career in golf.

Q. What are your goals for this week?

BILL HAAS: Obviously I would like to make the cut. I talked to my dad and my Uncle Jerry who is the coach at Wake Forest, he says don't go out there just to make the cut, you are playing well, the ball doesn't know who is hitting it, just get it in the hole. I hope I play well and I hope I score well. Shoot good whether I make or miss the cut. I want to just do the best I can. And not be disappointed.

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