Q. Did you notice any difference in the greens today? Were they as true as they have been?
JAY HAAS: Yeah, I thought. So I thought they were great again. They are getting very firm. I don't know if they were like this the first day, the first couple of days at this golf course. They were tough. There was some tough pins. Tough to get the ball close to the hole. I'm not a long hitter so I'm hitting a few holes, I'm hitting some longer shots in there and it's hitting and skidding and running into the back.
I'm kind of amazed at the scores of this golf course. I just don't think it's that easy. Starting with No. 9, I was telling Billy, almost every shot you hit, besides maybe No. 11, and 12 doesn't have water but it's a 4-iron shot. Almost every shot you hit is a difficult shot, it's water, out-of-bounds, bunker, whatever.
You've got to play well here, I think.
TODD BUDNICK: If you can just go through the card, your eagle.
JAY HAAS: 1, I missed the green and chipped long about 15 feet and missed it.
2, I hit a 3-iron just over the green and hit the shot of the week, really. It was not a long chip shot, 30, 40 feet maybe, but it just trickled in on the last roll and that kind of got me going back the right way.
Made a nice birdie at 6 from just the back edge of the green, maybe 15 feet.
7, I drove it in the left rough just short and chipped by about 15 feet and I missed it.
8, I made about a 15-footer after hitting a sand wedge.
11, I hit it on with a 3-iron about 15 feet and I thought I had made that putt. It just rolled over the edge. Tapped in for birdie.
15, I hit 9-iron to about 18 feet and made that.
18, I hit it just over the green and pitched back about five feet and made that.
Q. What was the club on your second shot?
JAY HAAS: I hit 5-wood. I wanted to hit a 3-iron, but I was just a little on the downslope. If I had maybe three or four shots at it I probably would have tried a 3-iron with one of them. I hit it just a little hot and it got through the green there.
I had a relatively simple pitch, but I just doesn't have much green to shoot to.
Q. What are your thoughts about Skip Kendall as a player?
JAY HAAS: I love Skip, the way he plays, his game. He plays within himself. He's not a long hitter. He's a beautiful putter and pitcher of the ball, chipper. You know, if you put he and Phil together, you would say -- well, it's like the Michael Jordan and Mark Price comparison, I guess. Mark's made a lot of good shots.
Q. What would it say about Phil, after having not played a tournament in so long, to be able to win?
JAY HAAS: I guess all of us felt like last year was pretty much not Phil, not the Phil that we know. What he's doing this week doesn't surprise me at all. I think it will say a lot for him. I think -- he didn't like last year, and that's good. That's a good thing for him. He's doing what he needs to do. That would say quite a bit.
TODD BUDNICK: Thank you, Jay.
End of FastScripts.
