Champions Tour pros recall best Father's Day moments

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Bill Haas (left) and father Jay (right) are both professional golfers.

The Champions Tour media staff recently asked a few Champions Tour players (and a couple of their sons) what they do on Father's Day. Do they have any traditions or do they recall any outstanding Father's Day moments? Here's what they had to say.

Fred Funk

Fred Funk, a father of three , is playing in his 21st U.S. Open Championship this week (June 14-20), having secured a spot thanks to his victory at the 2009 U.S. Senior Open, one of five career Champions Tour wins. His best finish in the national championship is sixth at Shinnecock Hills in 2004. Funk became one of just three players (Raymond Floyd, Craig Stadler) to win both a Champions Tour event and a PGA TOUR event in the same season when he posted victories at the 2007 Turtle Bay Championship (Champions Tour) and Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun.

"My birthday usually coincided with one of the days during U.S. Open week, just like Father's Day. At Winged Foot (2006) on Thursday morning the whole grandstand sang 'Happy Birthday' to me which was pretty cool. Our anniversary is during that week too, and then Father's Day, so it's a special time of the year for me."

Hale Irwin

Hale Irwin owns 20 PGA TOUR wins, including three U.S. Open Championships (1974, 1979, 1990). He is also the player on the Champions Tour with the most victories (45) and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992. Irwin won the 2003 Office Depot Father/Son Challenge with his son, Steve, who played on the Colorado golf team and won the 2004 Colorado State Amateur Match Play Championship. At the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am earlier this year, Irwin made his 1,000th combined (PGA TOUR/Champions Tour) career start.

"Because the U.S. Open is generally held over the Father's Day weekend my days with my father on that day were rare, as they were with my own children. But when we did have an opportunity to be together we spent our time in family activities, such as kid's baseball/softball games, swimming, barbequing, and other such things. Any day that I could spend with my father or spend as a father with my kids was always like a Father's Day, special in every sense."

Jay Haas

At last month's THE PLAYERS Championship, Jay and Bill Haas became the first father-son combination to compete in the event in the same year. Jay earned his spot in the field by virtue of his victory at the 2009 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship on the Champions Tour while Bill qualified via his first PGA TOUR victory earlier this year at the Bob Hope Classic. It was Jay's 29th start at THE PLAYERS, the most in tournament history. It also represented the 17th time that Bill and Jay have competed against each other in the same event, with Jay finishing higher 12 times. Jay made 27 starts in the U.S. Open Championship with a tie for fourth in 1995 his best showing while Bill has appeared twice, with a tie for 40th in 2004 after missing the cut in 2003.

"Bill and I played the U.S. Open at Shinnecock in 2004. He'd just gotten out of college (Wake Forest) and he qualified, was actually medalist at Woodmont. I'm pretty sure we shot the same score going into the last round and just missed getting paired together by two groups. I had a good last day and he didn't have such a good one so it was kind of bittersweet. It was nice to play on Father's Day with one of my sons. Over the years the U.S. Open has fallen on Father's Day so many times so most of the time I was playing the Open and not with my family. I told the boys this year my goal was to get to Pebble Beach and have all three of us there (Bill and Jay, Jr.)."

Nick Price

Nick Price, a father of three, is a two-time winner on the Champions Tour this year, joining Fred Couples (3) and Bernhard Langer (2) as the only multiple winners so far this season. Price is currently third in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, 495 points behind leader Fred Couples. The 2003 World Golf Hall of Fame Inductee also has 18 PGA TOUR victories. Price made 20 U.S. Open appearances with five top-10 finishes.

"We always tried to be together. Most of the time it was the U.S. Open so we were together. I think my girls got more of a kick out of Father's Day than my son does. We did a lot of stuff together. The girls are great, they always buy a card, come in and jump on your bed, give you a kiss and a hug -- but my son, he's always out surfing."

D.A. Weibring

D.A. Weibring has three children, Matt, a two-time All-America at Georgia Tech who turned pro following graduation and now plays on the PGA TOUR, Katey, who is pursuing a professional dancing career, and Allie, who attends the University of Oklahoma. Weibring has five PGA TOUR career wins and five Champions Tour titles, highlighted by the 2008 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship. He finished tied for third at the 1988 U.S. Open Championship.

"Seems like for so many years we were traveling and many times the U.S. Open was Father's Day. I remember one Father's Day when we were home at the house and had a nice dinner. That was special. The one that stands out though was the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Boston in 1988. I had a good chance to win on Father's Day. I had gone to a Red Sox game early in the week and got a bug or stomach flu, maybe it was a bad brat or something. I almost didn't tee off on Thursday. Come Sunday and I warmed up, it's real hot and muggy and I'm on the putting green and not feeling real good and I'm really debating whether I should pull out. I'm on the putting green and I feel this little tug and it's Matt. He says "Dad, I know you're not feeling very good. Take my St. Christopher medal. This will make you feel better.' It was just one of those moments, you know, with a Dad and his son. Anyway, I put it in my left pocket and went to the first tee. That whole week was really about him reaching out to say 'I can help here.' He really wants me to play. Now when I watch him play, I'll see him and reach over and tap him on his left pocket."

Matt Weibring

Matt Weibring finished 24th on the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list to graduate to the PGA TOUR in 2009 where he made the cut in 11 of 22 starts, highlighted by a tie for eighth at the Verizon Heritage. Weibring finished No. 138 on the money list last year and began 2010 with a tie for 11th at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun. He lists his Dad as his hero in his PGA TOUR Media Guide bio.

"I remember one U.S. Open; I think 1988, at the Country Club in Boston. Dad finished third, a shot or two out of the playoff. I was like eight or nine and starting to really get into the golf. Earlier in the week I had given Dad my St. Christopher's chain to wear for luck and he ended up carrying it around in his pocket all week and obviously played really well. The first time I beat him was after my freshman year of college. I had gotten close many times but he would always somehow turn it up and birdie the last two or three to get me. So when I finally did beat him it was a big deal. We were in Quincy where he is from, at Quincy C.C., a great old-school track. I made about a 10-footer for birdie on the last to beat him. I shot like 65 or 66 so I definitely had to earn it. He was probably as happy as I was."

Gunner Wiebe

Gunner Wiebe is the son of Mark Wiebe, who has won twice on both the Champions Tour (2007 SAS Championship and 2008 Cap Cana Championship) and PGA TOUR (1985 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic and 1986 Hardee's Golf Classic). Earlier this year, Wiebe outlasted Tim Mickelson, brother of TOUR star Phil, in a one-spot amateur qualifier for the 2010 Farmers Insurance Open. The two were tied after 18 holes, and they halved four holes of sudden-death before darkness halted the playoff. Wiebe earned the spot in an 18-hole playoff, posting a 73 to Mickelson's 74. The playoff put Mickelson in a tough spot. The University of San Diego golf coach wanted to play in the Farmers Insurance Open for a second time (1999), but not at the expense of Wiebe, a junior on his team. "I wish there was a way we could both play, but that's not going to happen," said Mickelson. Wiebe went on to miss the cut.

"I can't remember any Father's Day that particularly stands out. When I was just a kid, I remember my entire family being together at the U.S. Open on a couple of occasions but that's about it. We have no particular tradition regarding Father's Day but we try and spend as much time together as we can. Every time we are both at home, we play golf together or practice together pretty much every day and Father's Day is no exception. The first time that I beat my Dad was when I was 15 or 16 years old and it was at our home course, Cherry Hills. I thought it was pretty cool because I could now say that I had beaten a Tour player. My Dad could not have been happier for me as he saw this as a step in the right direction for my game and was rooting for me to do it the entire time. I wish there was more tradition that we have around Father's Day but to me, I kind of feel that every time we are on the golf course together it is like Father's Day because it is just me and him. Our relationship is very good and very strong and is a unique one at that. Not only are we father and son, but we are each other's coach and each other's student."

Dan Forsman

Dan Forsman earned his second Champions Tour title with a victory at the Regions Charity Classic last month and currently lies sixth in the Charles Schwab Cup point standings. Forsman, who also has five career PGA TOUR titles, grew up in the San Francisco Bay area where his father introduced him to the game of golf. He played in 11 U.S. Open Championships with a tie for 13th in 1996 his best result.

"My father used to like to play golf on Father's Day. I was the middle of three boys so we had a perfect foursome. Mom got left out a little bit but she joined us in the background and came along with us. Those were wonderful days playing golf."