Haas Enjoying Good Old Days

He’s 50, he’s losing his hair, his face has more lines than a road map and Jay Haas has never been better.

At his age, he should be asking for the senior-citizen discount instead of showing the kids how it’s done, such as shooting a 68 at the PGA Championship, which is what Haas did here Thursday at Whistling Straits.

In fact, it’s possible that the only thing more unexpected than Haas’ opening round was that he was not alone.

He was one of many players who torched the place after they’d spent the first part of the week so terrified of the course they almost seemed afraid of leaving their hotel rooms to play it.

Haas, though, is not scared of anything he might run across on a golf course, probably because he has seen it all.

When he turned 50 last December, he could have gone directly to the Champions Tour and started to act his age.

Instead, he stayed right where he was, on the PGA Tour, where he has seven top 10 finishes and $1.67 million in earnings this year.

Staying put was the right non-move for Haas and not only because he is in the hunt for his first major championship when he should be making a wallet or something.

He has stayed around long enough that he is now playing the same PGA Tour as his son, Bill, a three-time first-team All-American at Wake Forest and the Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the nation’s best college player.

Not only that, Haas is in position to make the Ryder Cup team with a decent finish this week. It would be his third time on the Ryder Cup team. He played the first time in 1983, when Tiger Woods was 7.

Add it all up and you can understand why Haas had such a huge smile on his face Thursday.

“I’m having the time of my life,” he said.

You can’t really blame him for feeling that way, either. His four-under round at Whistling Straits was the third time this year he has started a major with a low score. At the Masters, he began with a 69. He led the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills after one round with a 66 and had a one-under 70 at Royal Troon in the British Open.

Haas said he couldn’t explain those quick starts, but he added he was glad to have them. When you’re 50 and you’re doing something good at majors, it’s best not to get too analytical. In its simplest form, Haas pointed out, the best way to play golf is to hit a shot, go find your ball and then hit it again.

Even though he has spent most of his time on the PGA Tour this year, Haas has played two senior majors and nearly won them both. He was second at the Senior PGA and tied for third at the U.S. Senior Open.

He started the year at the Bob Hope and played 90 holes in 29 under par, missing out on the Phil Mickelson-Skip Kendall playoff by one shot, so you have to say he has the fast-start thing nailed down.

And as good as it has been for him this year, with his son on tour and the Ryder Cup squarely in his sights, Haas said there was one thing that would make it even sweeter. He could win the PGA Championship here. Haas thinks he can do it. He admitted that someone looking in from the outside might have other ideas, basically because he hasn’t won a tournament in 11 years and hasn’t done very much in majors.

It would be a huge upset if he won, Haas said.

He has two top-five finishes in the PGA Championship the last four years, but how that would translate into a victory this week is not something he can put into words.

All Haas knows is that he’s playing well, he’s hoping to make the Ryder Cup team and that will happen for sure if he’s the guy holding up the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday night.

Haas is aware of what a victory would mean, how it would stack up, how others might look at it.

It would be one for the ages.