What they said: Bill Haas

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Defending Bob Hope Class Champion Bill Haas returned to the site of his first-career victory for a media day Wednesday. He talked about winning a tourhament his dad won in 1988, the unique format, and looking forward to teeing it up again in 2011.

Bill Haas: This was my first win and it couldn't really have been at a better place; a place where my dad (1988 Bob Hope Classic champion Jay Haas) has won. I remember growing up, I think I would always call him and I was more concerned with who he was playing with, a celebrity he was playing with. (It's) Definitely a place that I've seen him do well. I was 6 when he won. His caddy at the time was Billy Harmon, who now is my teacher and my dad's teacher, and we were going through stories of the day he won and the stuff he said to him when they were out there on the course. It is pretty neat to know that that was my first win and they had experienced the same thing.

It's a place that I always look forward to coming to. I got a spot here when I first turned pro, via sponsor exemption. That's a pretty special thing and something I'll always remember, and I'll always come back here. So to win it and give me another reason, that's pretty special. And I think it was a hell of a field last year.

Q. Obviously, you had established yourself as a PGA TOUR player but not as a winner. This year, you've won two tournaments, played in three of the (PGA TOUR) Playoff (events). Was there something that at the beginning of the year that felt different to you, that you thought maybe this was something on the verge of happening for you?

Haas: Not a whole lot. It started very similar. I got off to a bad start. The first event was in Hawaii and I just played terrible. I came here with big expectations. Obviously, you expect to play well. I worked with Billy that week before. I got here early from missing the cut in Hawaii and something just kind of clicked. And then to go on and win, it definitely changes your expectations for the rest of the year. But I don't know that I can say I sensed something coming. Maybe something a little bit in my favor was it was my 140thevent, starting the year and, eventually, you get lucky, maybe. So I can't put a finger on exactly what happened, but maybe just getting more comfortable, more used to the courses, and this being one of the places that I'm really comfortable. I really like it out here.

Q. Did winning your first tournament feel like you thought it was going to feel, or was it completely different than you imagined?

Haas: I think it's hard to imagine what it feels like so it's different I would say. You don't know what to do. It's a shock. And the way it happened, birdieing the last two holes, and all of the sudden it happened. I wish I could say I knew what I was going to do on the 18th green, but I didn't.

Q. Is there a difference in your mental approach to a tournament like this one where you basically have to birdie every other hole? Between that and going to an event where par is a good score and you're just trying to get by and stay around level par?

Haas: Maybe. It's less stressful going in, knowing that birdies are out there. But then again, if you go out and bogey the first two holes, you are pretty disappointed and highly stressed, maybe. I don't know. I don't think you prepare for tournaments differently, but you do have that mindset of birdie-birdie-birdie at all times and I think that's more fun. It's more relaxing and it's a relaxing set up playing with amateurs and, quote-unquote, dealing with them all day. It depends on who you are. I think if you embrace that, you meet a lot of good people and you're able to help them to play a little better golf, and, in return, that might actually help the player, I think. It does with me.

Q. Has this changed you at all from a confidence standpoint? You get a win and, now, do you go into every tournament feeling like, 'OK, now I know what it feels like. Now I know what it takes?'

Haas: Maybe a little. But then after the rest of the summer last year, after winning, I would say I was kind of disappointed. I missed maybe four out of five cuts in the summer right near the (U.S.) Open, and the British Open I didn't play well, and so, then all of the sudden, you've got that 'this game is crazy' and what it does to your head and you get that doubt in your head again. But then, at the Fall Series, I won the Viking Classic and then the next week, on Sunday, I was in the hunt, and I told somebody the next day it wasn't any easier on the last hole than it had been at the Hope. Now I've won twice and this is the week after I won again. It's just nerves can get the better of you. But I do think the more you're there and the more times you're in that position, you just get more comfortable with that feeling. I think you're always going to have that feeling of this is difficult, this is something I want so bad and I don't want to lose it. You get more used to it, but I think you always have that feeling.

Q. For the past year, since you've been champion, have you been acting more like an ambassador? Have you talked to any guys on TOUR that maybe haven't been at this event before, or recently, that you're friends with and you're trying to get them to come out here for 2011?

Haas: If somebody asks me, 'What do you think of the Bob Hope?,' I say 'Go.' And that's before I won. This is a place that I will always play. With Billy living out here and, through my dad and people he's met, I've always stayed with a family out here and it's always been very comfortable for me. And I would tell people it's hard to find a place that's better for golf. There's not any bad days out here. Doesn't seem to be. We got one last year and the tournament got pushed back, but that was the one day it rained in the last 15 years, maybe, or something during the tournament.

So I tell people to go. I am happy to be an ambassador and tell people to come and play. It's a great way to start the year, I think. You make a lot of birdies. It kind of gets your confidence level up for the next week. We're independent contractors and a lot of the guys aren't asking many people for advice, or they don't want to take advice from some young punk, but I'll tell anybody that this is one of the best fields and one of the best tournaments on our schedule.

Q. Are you a fan of the format?

Haas: I am. I think, for me, when you're out there with four amateurs, they're asking you questions, you want to help them. Well, that's all distractions away from what I'm doing when it comes to being mad, walking down the fairway, about the last shot. I can hit a bad shot but I'm now focused on these guys and trying to help them out. And then, for me at the end of the day I sign my scorecard and I'm, 'Wow, I shot 4-under.' It just kind of happens, like you're playing at home. So, for me, I enjoy it.

Q. As defending champ, I'm wondering what celebrity you would be pining for to play with. Would there be any one particular person you think it would be fun to play with?

Haas: I'd have to see a list of the celebrities, but any of them. To see another professional in their field and to get to ask them questions. I know a lot of stars have played. That's a pretty interesting life, to be able to quiz them on their lifestyle. Any athletes (I'd be willing to play with). I'm into all sports. I'd love to play with a football player. I'll be happy to play with any of them.

Q. Some of the players talk about the format, as far as the four courses, as being one of the reasons that they don't like to play here. What's your mindset on that, and how do you deal with that, playing on the different courses?

Haas: They are all good courses. You can make more birdies and they're not as difficult as some. For me, I enjoy that. I don't mind a birdie fest. I don't mind shooting a low score. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think that there are a lot of courses on Tour that get obsessed with par and making it tricked up and difficult. They just don't do that here. They let you go play. If you play well, you're going to shoot well and you can win. There's no secrets.

Q. When your dad played, was there a celebrity in particular that you were really excited that he played with?

Haas: I remember him talking about playing with athletes that I thought were much cooler than he was. To hear about that, I mean, I remember him bringing home stuff signed, like a putter was signed by Kenny G, which my mom loved. I wasn't into that but that was something that my mom was into. It was just cool to hear about him playing with anybody. I can't really put one guy, a nail on the head, but it's something that's pretty cool that I can do that, too.

Q. Is there any experience, in particular, that you've had with the amateurs that really stand out over the years?

Haas: I haven't been in the celebrity wave yet. I've been at the same course but on different nines of the celebrities. The house I've always stayed at, Billy Andrade stays there also. And so, through him, he knows everybody and enjoys that. There are other guys who will come by the house, like Mark Wahlberg. He goes to dinner with him. And he'll come by the house and so then to meet him, I think that is pretty neat.

Not any one in particular. Last year, I stayed with a guy in LA four weeks later, that I played with last year, so I give him the props for giving me a free place to stay and helping me win the tournament.

Q. Now you get the joy of being defending champion and you get to do things like this, and talk with people like us. Are you comfortable with this? Is this part of the game that you ever really thought about having to deal with?

Haas: Yeah. If you want to call it a problem or me donating my time, it's a good time to donate because you won a tournament, you get to go to the Media Day and it's not that big a deal. I'm happy to do it. I'm happy to be here. I hope I win more times and get to come do this. Never been a defending champion of a tournament so it'll be new for me and looking forward to seeing what that feels like and if it's something I'm uncomfortable with, well then hopefully I'll get there more often to get comfortable.

Q. What will your early season schedule look like?

Haas: Right now I'm pretty sure I am playing the first four tournaments, which would be two in Hawaii, here and in San Diego. I think the one I am not maybe 100-percent sold on is the second Hawaii tournament, the Sony. Then that will maybe allow me to play Phoenix, after San Diego, but it's kind of all up in the air right now. So four of the first five. That's kind of all I've thought about.

Q. Being a son first and now a father, I can only imagine the exchange that the two of you must have had in a quiet moment, especially with both of you winning the tournament. What was that like for the two of you, and what did you guys say?

Haas: The moment, I remember actually, there was nothing said. We shook hands, he pulled me in for a hug and the look he gave me was almost like, 'I know what you're feeling, go enjoy it.' And I went and signed my card and came back out and we talked more about it but, I've said before, I knew he was in Palm Springs but didn't know he was out at the tournament watching until that moment. So it was kind of a cool, fun surprise to share it with him and my brother, who happened to be there, and Billy and my uncle, Bob Goalby. Just to have that much family there that truly cared how I was feeling was pretty special.