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CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

October 26, 2005

Jay Haas

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA

JEFF ADAMS: Jay, thanks for coming in you maybe get us started, this is the first time you've played here and kind of take us over your last month, starting the one last week, you jumped up to the Money List to earn a spot here.

JAY HAAS: All year long that has been one of my goals was to qualify for this tournament. Didn't know how many I was going to get to play or choose to play. But when I was at Greensboro, I was hemming and hawwing where I was going to play in Austin, or San Antonio. I knew I was going to play in Hickory, or Hickory, as I guess they say there. But I played in Greensboro over that week and I shot 1 over par.

I don't know what it was but I just felt like, man, I don't know if I can do this anymore, and I think at age 31, or 41, I didn't have a choice. I needed to get better and do it and continue to do it to try to play on the PGA Tour but at 51, this option to do what I'm doing now. And anyway, I went to Hickory, and just kind of, I felt good, I felt comfortable. But again in the back of my mind was trying to get in the Top 30 and knew kind of what I had to do. I knew I had to do have the least two, if not three, really good, decent, and just things have gone my way obviously since then. I made three birdies at the end at hickory to win the tournament. I played, actually, in the three tournaments, Hickory and Houston and San Antonio, Huston where I he finished tied for fifth, probably with my best tee to green event, I really played well this week and didn't drop around the greens on the greens.

So I knew I was playing well coming into last week and just felt like I could keep that going and I always enjoyed playing at Oakland Hills you know, I could get here. So it was definitely a goal of mine. And I didn't really set air lost goals this year, but that was definitely one of them?

Q. Why do you think the Greensboro experienced that kind of effect on you?

JAY HAAS: I don't really know. Other than at time I must have been low at time about must the game, you know, starting to feel sorry for myself, I can't could do this and I can't do that and everything, and I say, well, you'd better because this is your job, you'd better learn to do it. I was a little more relaxed, suppose going into the tournament at Hickory, and again just kind of clicked on something in the practice, and started driving the ball better, hitting a lot of good iron shots, the course, I felt comfortable on the golf course and look good to my eye, that's kind of the way golf is. I think you can go through streaks where you're kind of, for me anyway, when I'm playing pretty poorly, all of the sudden one little key can change that. And it did for me obviously in the last month.

Q. Hale said that he had one foot in one tour and one foot in the other and he felt in limbo; do you feel any less in limbo you did a couple of months ago?

JAY HAAS: A little bit less but I can relate to exactly what he's feeling. Most of this, I think that whether it be how are you doing Jay and are you going to play, those are the two questions that ask or what are you going to concentrate on. And I guess I feel much more confident in my game and real really good about it and everything and you would think that would help me on the PGA tour and I guess this winter I just need to sit down and decide what is the best option is. I guess right now I would say played more Champions Tour golf. My son Bill, is on the nation Wie tour, hopefully he's going to get his card this week and take care of that, so that may change my attitude some, to play with him a little bit more, to go out. We've done that before, we've done it probably eight or ten times now and it's an unbelievable charge and that never gets old. But at the same time, I kind of need to; et him fly on his own. He seems to do fine without me and as much as I'd lied love to see him play more and be there and hang out with him, things like that, he's 23. We don't have will in common other than our blood. Is he I guess that's a lot, but at the same time, you know, our friends are different and all that stuff.

Q. Somebody else that that if yeah that's right?

JAY HAAS: Now of them said that last year but then this year the first six events that I didn't do squat in they were not too worried about me anymore. So you know we all have our little runs out here and I think hopefully mine will last several years and be a factor out here in these events. I'm feeling more and more comfortable I suppose. On this tour, learning the golf courses a little bit and I was fortunate in San Antonio that I've played there probably 100 rounds prior to last week so that was fun.

Q. Hale Irwin said earlier today, that it sort of, it turns out distinct personalities and you lose the personality if you go backs and forth and it's difficult to do; how difficult is it?

JAY HAAS: I think that's the word that I've used before, it seemingly is more of a do or die attitude than most of the guys carry out there. I know, I was that way when I was in my 20s and 30ses, I need to do this right now, it needs to happen, panic if I'm playing poorly I think here the guys realize they have done this for 25, 30, 35 year. It's not life or death and I don't I say is that people don't enjoy playing the PGA TOUR, they don't enjoy that style or whatever, but the intensity level I think is slightly different. Now, Dana and I and Mark James, we played Sunday, and we had a lot of conversations, everything and kind of the back nine, there wasn't a whole lot said. I think once that group of people who are in the hunt that week are coming down the stretch, there's not a lot of yucking going down out there. But you know think I there's probably less time spent on the practice tee, more time enjoying life and I think that's just a product of growing older.

I think it's more age, I think it's more of an age thing than anything. For me personally, I realize that it's just this is financial. This is what I've wanted to do all my life and to be able to continue to continue this at 50 plus is accomplishment to go on, I feel like life won an award every week when I show up and they are letting us play for all this cash. They are playing for more money now than most of these guys ever played for in their PGA TOUR careers.

So, I see something wrong with the Champions Tour. This is a wonderful place.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JAY HAAS: You know, I don't know what it is. I've tried to decide why I want to stay on the PGA TOUR, why do I want to come on the Champions Tour? I don't know. I don't have a real solid reason other than for the past couple of years, at 49 and 50, I made the Presidents Cup team and I made the Ryder Cup Team, I was playing really good golf. I didn't feel like I could still compete on the grandest stage there is golf. And so it was hard to turn my back the end of last year, I was in the top 25 or 30 on the World Ranking, so had I chosen to play out here exclusively, I would have for been playing in the TPC and the match Play and The Masters and all of these events. It's kind of hard to turn your back on that. And just coming off a year where I played on THE TOUR Championship of the PGA TOUR, it would be pretty hard to say, bow, all of the sudden I could not do that any nor. When is it time, and I don't think that answer.

I've talked to a lot of the guys. Some of them say they wish they would have played more on the PGA TOUR they first came out here and first turned 50. Some have said they wished they would have I wished I had done. Fred Funk said he wishes he did not look back and come over here, but that was before he won THE TOUR Championship. I think more and more you're seeing people in their late 40s being competitive. It's feasible now, I would won't say struggle, but if you're kind of hanging out there on the PGA tour, you can make a living and it used to be when you got object in your early 40s, there was no Champions Tour on the horizon, and your game suffered a little about the, you had to started looks for a job. What are with you going to do when you could not do this in anymore. When you struggled for a couple of years, you made $40,000 instead of 400 or a nil I don't know. There's some guys that are going to make a million dollars on the PGA TOUR this year. I've won almost $500,000.

So, that's why I a guy can kind of last a little bit. Now with the Champions Tour on the horizon, you guys say, I'm going to take care of myself a little better I can keep doing this. Throws no coach or manager or team owner saying anything.

Q. This is your first look at Sonoma today or yesterday.

JAY HAAS: Yesterday I played ten holes.

Q. Just a quick assessment of the course?

JAY HAAS: It's playing awfully hard now I think. Long, with this weather. But I love the golf course. It is? it's probably in as good of conditions as any course we've played all year both tours that I've been on. The fairways, are flawless, and the greens are they are probably as quick as any greens that we've laid on this tour, and one of the Top 10 on the PGA TOUR I think.

Q. They said they were probably going to get them at 11 but I'm hearing from people

JAY HAAS: I think they are probably faster than that right now. With the rain they have probably slowed them just a touch. Peter and I played the back nine and we had some putts and we just could not believe how quick they are and it's just beautiful. It's kind of right in front of you, too. I've only played 28 holes now, but I feel like I understand the coarse and where to go and there's no real tricky holes but you need to stay on the correct side of the hole. You can't have a steady diet of downhill putts here.

Q. Mentioned the Ryder Cup, how much of that is part of the lore to play on the PGA TOUR?

JAY HAAS: Well, I don't know. I guess I would would be kind of a dream to do another one of those. I think at, someone would have told me I'd played the Ryder Cup at 50, would I have said he's nuts, there's no way I could do that. So I don't know that I would play enough to do is that. And I guess I should just say, you know what, that was a pretty good cap it a pretty good career and I should just ride off into the sunset but I'm stubborn and I'll probably go out. I enjoy playing at the Bob Hope, I feel comfortable that course. Certain courses I think the guys out here are more suited to. The length is not so demanding and a little tight are, a little more creativity required on certain courses and I think the guys out here can compete a little bit easier.

Q. Did seems like it speaks to the very big margin of error.

JAY HAAS: At times, I can compete with the best in the world. Now those times are make getting farther apart perhaps. I don't know. Maybe, I think a lot of this year had 20 do with my I spoke last year the past couple of years, my passion for the game it rekindled itself I such suppose. I started playing better. It was more fun to plea. It was more fun to practice it, was getting results. And then people were I was 49 year old Jay Haas. I was just not another PGA golfer and is that was almost a novelty back there, and but I don't know. I guess the after I made the Ryder Cup Team I played last fall quite a few events and I just kind of, almost like after a hard day's work you sit down in the easy chair and take a breath and stake a nap and something, I think there's what I did for the first six months this year.

Q. Hale made a reference but starting to realize it's fun to play well and win. Wheres on the PGA TOUR you can play well and finish 060?

JAY HAAS: And, I don't know, will how to put this, but playing well against is are Vijay or playing with Tiger. Last year I played with Tiger in the last group at THE TOUR Championship in Atlanta. Had a chance to win this tournament against 296 of the best players in the world. Is that, to me, was an unbelievable charge.

But I would say, winning Hickory and San Antonio was not a charge. It was autumn I knew, until the last year and a half, PGA TOUR is all I've ever known, and so it's just hard for me to turn that page.

But I think as I've you know and I talked to Hale about it. He and I have haven't had a heart to heart or anything like that, but I said, I just was, my motivation was no the same this year it didn't seem like. I just doesn't know what I wanted to do. I was just kind of the make the Ryder Cup Team and applying on that and kind of last year took a lot out of me and I didn't think it did until the first happen this year.

End of FastScripts.

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