Jay Haas remembers playing a practice round with Gary Player perhaps a decade ago when the Hall of Fame golfer and nine-time major winner had reached his early 70s, and Player, renowned for his fitness routine, asked Haas a question that left him chuckling.
“I'm pretty sure he was 73, maybe 72, somewhere in there,” Haas said, “And he said, ‘Jay, do you see yourself out here at the same age?’ I thought that that would be … you know, I'd miss that by 10 years [meaning 62 or 63], but here I am at 67. I know the window's closing and all that, but I still enjoy it, certainly when I play like today.”
The oldest player in the field in the 41st U.S. Senior Open Championship, Haas had just posted a 1-under-par 69 in Round 1 at Omaha (Neb.) Country Club, and, yes, why wouldn’t he keep playing with rounds like he had Thursday, when he hit 11 of 13 fairways, 13 greens in regulation and enjoyed a largely solid round on a difficult layout. He made five birdies against four bogeys. He got himself on the leader board, four shots behind Stephen Ames and Billy Andrade.
Not that this should be all that surprising. He might be 67, and he might be giving up quite a few yards off the tee to those youngsters of 50 or 51 years old, but Haas is fit and has had a largely injury-free career. And he’s certainly had enough experience in USGA championships going back to his debut in the U.S. Open in 1974. Haas has not won a tournament since the 2016 Toshiba Classic, but he’s hardly out there embarrassing himself.
Two weeks ago at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship, the Greenville, S.C., resident finished T-52, but his effort included a two-under 68 in the second round on the arduous South Course at Firestone Country Club, one shy of shooting his age.
The thought of shooting his age crossed his mind on Thursday, too.
“Well, this would be pretty legitimate if I did it on this golf course, yes, and I did think that,” said Haas, who has won nine times on the PGA Tour and 18 times since turning 50. “I played very solidly early. Made enough birdies. You know, five birdies out here is certainly enough to do that with a par 70, to shoot 3 under par.”
Haas had his best finish in this championship in his debut in 2004, finishing tied for third, the first of five top-10 finishes. He also had five top 10s in the U.S. Open in 27 starts, and he twice was low amateur, in 1974 and ’75. He played for the 1975 USA Walker Cup Team before turning professional in 1976.
Do the math and Haas, whose son Bill has been a winner on the PGA Tour, has been a pro golfer for 45 years. And he isn’t making any plans to hang it up. Maybe he doesn’t make it to Player’s mark of 72 or 73, but maybe he does.
“I'm not drawing a line in the sand [that] this is where the end is,” he said, contemplating when his career might be finished. “When I consistently play poorly or play really good and shoot 75 or 76, I don't want to do that. I don't want to play as good as I can play and shoot over par. I don't think that does anybody justice. But, no, a long-winded answer, but when I first started the PGA Tour at 23, I thought I'd play till my mid-40s. So here I am 23 years past that. It's pretty incredible, a second life, get to play on a great golf course like this. Very, very fortunate.”
And he’s still very, very good.
Dave Shedloski is an Ohio-based writer who frequently contributes to USGA websites.
