SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

April 25, 2003

Jay Haas

JOAN V.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Jay, for joining us for a few minutes. Another great round, a 677. A pair of 67s going into the weekend. Great position it looks like. Got to be pretty happy.

JAY HAAS: Yeah. It was -- didn't really know what to expect with the new golf course here. When I first saw it, I thought that it certainly didn't play into my hands, kind of a long big golf course, big greens, and I was really having trouble with the speed of the greens and the grain, things like that, in practice in the Pro Am Wednesday, but I have really done well on the greens, reading them, along with Tommy, my caddie, we have done a good job, getting the pace right, and a lot of the breaks.

And I think that has been a big key. Any time I play a good round or a couple of good rounds, it is because of my putting usually, and that was no exception these last couple of rounds. I have putted the ball well. I 3-putted No. 1 in the second round this morning, but other than that, I have really -- I made a lot of nice putts, arcs, lot of saves, chipped it well, chipped in a couple of times. So I need to hit the ball better from tee-to-green if I want to stay up there.

Q. What's changed recently?

JAY HAAS: Augusta -- I just didn't play very well there, and the course, the way it was playing that first round there when we played, I guess I played 29 holes, maybe the first day on Friday, it was 50 degrees, starting off it was 43 or something like that, wind blowing, and I guess I always enjoyed playing in warm weather. One reason I haven't played like in the AT&T last few years is that I just haven't done any good out there. My body just doesn't work as well out in the cold.

But aside from that, I just didn't hit the ball very well, last week either, hit my irons terribly. I got a little key from Jeff Sluman on the range on Saturday afternoon at Hilton Head. He got me to move in a little closer to it. It made a little sense to me. I started hitting my irons a little bit better. Still having a little trouble with my driver, but my irons have been better.

Most of us out here are pretty close to playing well all the time. It is just the need of one little key or one little boost to get you on track and -- but I don't know, other than just not playing very well, and I think that when I play poorly, it is not a surprise. When I play well, it is not a surprise. It is just -- to me it's just the nature of the game.

Q. When you say you didn't think it really would fit, what specifically are you talking about?

JAY HAAS: I guess the length of the holes, you just -- 7,500 yards kind of hits you in the face right when you look at that. But the par 5s all being 570 plus, there's -- without the aid of wind and the ball really rolling well those are all just out of my reach. If my average drive is 275 say, now I still got 300 left. It's simple math there I can't reach that. There's a few guys that hit it over 300. Now they are going to be able to knock it on those par 5s so it makes it that much easier for the longer hitters to play a par 68 or 9. Now today, the 9th hole I knocked it on, that's 5 -- I don't know what that is but it's a long way but it was straight downwind. No. 1 I couldn't have reached because it was into the wind. 15 I couldn't have reached into the wind. 12 into the wind. But a lot of the guys couldn't reach those holes then too. That made it a little more equitable I suppose.

Q. It is a little bit more forgiving than you thought in terms of getting those distances?

JAY HAAS: The ball is really running a lot. The 17th hole, 475 I hit an 8-iron in yesterday, and that's technology, that's the wind, that's the ground being a little hard. Me hitting a good drive, you know, just a combination of things. 20 years ago, 475, we're saying why isn't this a par 5 is basically what we're saying on that. But it doesn't seem to play quite as long as the yardage indicates.

Q. How long does it take to reach a point where you can kind of either be -- you played well, you are not playing well, not be surprised --

JAY HAAS: I don't know if there was one point in my career when I realized that, but I probably realized it a long time ago but didn't want to accept the fact that you know, you can't really do a whole lot about it other than just go out and practice. Sometimes you are going to have it and sometimes you are not. And never been one to just make every single cut. I have been pretty consistent over my career, but there are times when I struggle and I just have to fight it and -- I suppose later in my career I just resigned myself to the fact that you know, I watch younger players get frustrated with bad breaks, bad hitting, whatever, and just take themselves out of the game just mentally. You can see their body language. I used to do the same thing and I still do sometimes. But I manage myself a little bit better than I used to in that regard. But I don't know if there was one week or month or year that I finally woke up and said --

Q. Life usually isn't that simplistic.

JAY HAAS: No, it is not, unfortunately.

Q. How do you explain seemingly becoming a better and better putter? Most guys as they advance in --

JAY HAAS: Putting for me has been totally technique. I have changed my technique to -- if I can break it down in simplest terms I used to putt maybe with the putter square to the target line on the line, square to square the whole time. Now I putt with my putter blade square to an arc like a golf swing. And most of that I owe Stan Utley when I have played well. I said this -- he just changed my theory on putting. He asked me how well -- what is your theory on putting. This was 23 years ago. I said I don't have one basically. That's my problem maybe. He just kind of spoke a little bit about what he believes in putting and it just clicked with me, you know how some people with the swing-thought or something, something just clicks and it might not be for everyone, and you know, this might not either. But for me, it seems to relax me on the greens. I feel like I am doing the right thing and I think in any golf shot if I am committed to it I am probably going to do a better job executionwise. If I am wishing it in there, then I got no chance.

Q. Does he get a commission on your earnings?

JAY HAAS: No. We have our own little deal worked out. He has been a huge boost to my career and my putting and my stats are clearly better than they were for a long time. He doesn't believe age should be a factor in putting. If you have the proper technique you should be able to putt. And I have putted better in the last year, year and a half than -- for an extended period of time I have putted better than any time in my career.

Q. When you look at the leaderboard at this point you see the numbers, does it start to reach a point where there's -- you feel you got to really go low?

JAY HAAS: I think that has been going on for quite a while. I have won tournaments shooting in the 20s. I have won tournaments shooting 8-under. It's all relative when you look at the number you think well 20-under is going to be the number here or 20 plus. But if you just said before the first two rounds that I was going to be 10-under I would have said I am going to have to play really good to get to 10-under on this golf course. I don't know if I can do that. You go play and all of a sudden there it is. But I think the mentality of golfers now out here is kind of play with your hair on fire, go for it. More so than it used to be and I think for a guy like myself who was here when Monday qualifiers rabbits, as we called ourselves, trying to get in every week and if you made the cut you got to play the next week, you didn't have to qualify on Monday, so the first order of business when you showed up at the Houston Open was to make the cut so you didn't have to go to Monday qualifier. So rather than thinking now the first order of business is let's see how low I can shoot so I can win this tournament, if I miss the cut, I am still going to play next week. I think that mentality, that all-exempt tour, all that kind of changed maybe a little bit. With the ball going so far and guys hitting it so far they shoot low scores. It is just going to happen.

Q. (Inaudible).

JAY HAAS: I have had my opportunities and probably had maybe -- TPC wasn't as good because Davis -- I was going to have to shoot 64 -- 66 the last day basically and I would have still lost maybe if I was 2 behind, 1 behind, but I had a great chance at the Bob Hope and Mike played very well birdied last three holes and I messed up at the end there. But it frustrates me or disappoints me that I haven't won more than I have, but I don't feel like -- I am not devastated but I am not satisfied. I think we all as golfers, if you guys play, you know you play, no matter what you shoot there's always one or two or three that you could have saved out there. We're no different.

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