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That Haas, he's a moose

Shaun Powell

June 18, 2004

Isn't it strange how the U.S. Open's early round suddenly belongs to guys who are, shall we respectfully say, getting late? This time last year, folks were pulling out their hankies on a course that didn't have a dry eye. Tom Watson at age 53 was enjoying a throwback moment. He found fairways, he found birdies, he found himself tied for the lead on the first day at the U.S. Open. He did everything except re-create his miracle shot in 1982 at Pebble Beach with a birdie chip on 17.

When his 45-foot birdie putt last year hung on the edge of the seventh hole for what seemed like an hour before dropping in, well, it's a good thing Watson still had a young man's heart.

Who would've thought that special, rare performance would be, ahem, old news a year later? After one soggy round at Shinnecock Hills, a 50-year-old is in contention. And what's different about Jay Haas is that, unlike Watson, he has staying potential. By shooting a 66, he merely continued a recent stretch of career-extending golf yesterday by making few errors on his way to the top of the leader board.

So to what did Haas partly attribute his 4-under-par effort?

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"I had some influential partners," he said.

That would be Ray Floyd, age 61, and Tom Kite, 53.

"We're just a bunch of old guys getting together," Kite explained.

Haas should thank tournament directors for pairing him with some experienced and good company. Kite was 42 when he won his U.S. Open championship, and Floyd 43 when he won his last major, the '86 U.S. Open at Shinnecock. Both are now spending their twilight years on the Champions Tour, the place where Haas should be if you judged him just on age.

But Haas has been a fixture among the leaders on the PGA Tour for months now, with five top-10 finishes and $1.2 million in the bank. He is driven to make this year's U.S. Ryder Cup team; and a solid finish at Shinnecock (where the qualifying points are doubled) will give him a strong chance to become the oldest player to qualify for it.

Of course, Haas should and will aim higher. Why not become the oldest player to win a major championship? Nobody 50 and up has ever walked away with the trophy for several reasons. They either didn't have the stamina, or the distance off the tee, or the ability to recapture past glory for four straight days.

Every so often, somebody with gray hair comes along and pulls a surprise in a tournament. He sticks around for a day or so and makes the cut before disappearing for the weekend, and we applaud him for taking us on a short, nostalgic trip.

Is this finally where we see somebody win and require assistance to lift the trophy?

The conditions might cooperate. Shinnecock is playing surprisingly reasonable right now, mainly because the wind isn't baring its teeth. Anyone who usually finds the fairways can shoot under par at Shinnecock as long as they have a putting touch. Haas showed remarkable touch yesterday and stayed out of trouble. He made only one bogey compared with five birdies, none bigger than his 20-foot putt on 17.

"He's striking the ball beautifully," Kite said. "You know, we're not the youngest guys, but all of us feel pretty good, and if we play up to our caliber, we're capable of doing some nice things. Jay showed that today."

It's now up to Haas to either duplicate his first round, or come close enough over the next few days. That may seem like a stretch, except in his case, the way he's playing, Haas could make it interesting.

He's come a long way for someone who peaked in the early 1990s before hitting a rough patch and grabbing mostly loose change since. Suddenly, Haas is enjoying a renaissance that began last year, when he won more than $1 million for the first time in his career. There's no better time than now to capture the one achievement that has escaped him.

"All my career, I felt I was capable of winning a major, although I haven't," he said. "So many people have mentioned to me that ever since Tiger stopped winning, nothing but first-timers have won the majors. I don't necessarily look at it this way, but maybe it's my time. You look at the U.S. Open and sometimes you get a winner who hasn't done much before."

Floyd shot 5 over yesterday and Kite was 2 over. Both are in danger of missing the cut. After today's round, Haas and his very mature partners might part company. If so, he should keep these words from Floyd for motivation: "Some people are old at 50, and some people are young."

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