Family affair for Haas
Former Ryder Cup player Jay Haas will be competing against both of his sons when the Wachovia Championship starts at Quail Hollow in North Carolina tomorrow.
It is something that has not happened on the US Tour since 1994 when Jack Nicklaus’ sons Gary and Jack Jnr were part of the field with him for the Pebble Beach Pro-am.
Bill Haas, a member of the 2003 Walker Cup team, earned a tour card at last December’s qualifying school, while eldest son Jay Jnr will make his tour debut after surviving a three-way play-off for one of the final two spots at the start of the week.
“As you can imagine, this is pretty special for me,” their father said.
Haas returns to the main circuit after winning the last two events on the seniors tour.
After hearing Jay Jnr had qualified the 52-year-old added: “What a thrill for Jay in itself. He’s started to work a little harder on his game and it’s started to pay off.
“He’s not as good as he wants to be, but he’s better than he thinks he is. Just the fact that he can get his feet wet on a stage like this will only help him.
“For him to be here and Bill again is just an unbelievable thrill.
“I wanted them to enjoy the game, to be halfway decent where they could go out and have fun. I didn’t think they would love it as much as I love the game.
“As a kid, it’s kind of hard to push golf on somebody. It’s a lot of hours out there, a lot of time by yourself. So the fact that they’ve both pursued this and done quite well at it, again, they’ve exceeded any expectation.
“I won’t say this is a dream come true because I couldn’t have dreamt of doing this.”
Jay Jr commented: “I really wanted to play with my dad and my brother this week. I get goosebumps thinking about it right now.”
Nine of the world’s top 10 are taking part. The only absentee is Tiger Woods, who may not play again until next month’s US Open because of his father’s health.
Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald lead a European challenge that also includes David Howell, Lee Westwood, Greg Owen, Brian Davis, Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell. Vijay Singh is the defending champion.
