Father and son making history during Mother's Day week at TPC Sawgrass

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Bill Haas (left) and his father Jay are in THE PLAYERS field but won't be paired together for the first two rounds.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- They've actually played against each other in a PGA TOUR event 17 times already.

Only this time, the tournament is THE PLAYERS Championship and Jay and Bill Haas will make history as the first father-son duo to compete in the TOUR's signature event in the same year.

Not to mention, Bill comes into this week's tournament as a TOUR champion after picking up his first win in January at the Bob Hope Classic -- which Jay also won in 1988 when his son was 5. And the patriarch of the Haas clan will be making his record 29th start in THE PLAYERS.

Six other sons have followed their fathers into THE PLAYERS field but not in the same year. They are Jack and Gary Nicklaus, Craig and Kevin Stadler, Dave Stockton and Dave Stockton Jr., Butch and Briny Baird, Julius and Guy Boros and Al and Brent Geiberger. Of that group, only the Boroses and Geibergers join the Haases as TOUR winners.

Jay, who now plays the Champions Tour, has gotten the better of his son 12 of the 17 times the two have played in the same event but he knows the tide has turned. The last time was at the 2006 Quail Hollow Championship where Bill tied for fourth -- and his brother, Jay Haas Jr., was also in the field as a Monday qualifier.

"Anytime we can (play together) is an unbelievable thrill for me," Jay said. "And then to see the maturity of Bill on the course and how he's handled himself and how his game has improved, I get a big charge out of that."

Bill says he was always trying to beat his father whenever the two played. He was in high school the first time it happened on a raw December day at The Cliffs at Koewee Vineyards.

"We weren't really keeping score," Bill recalled. "But in our heads, I think we knew what was going on. And I think he said to me on 17, 'You're 2 up on me right now,' or 'You're 1 up on me.' But I definitely remember that first day beating him."

As a father, Jay always wanted to see his sons succeed -- even if it meant the nine-time PGA TOUR gave up bragging rights to them for a while. At the same time, he wasn't going to make it easy for them, though.

"I told them every time we played, '... I will never give it to you because then it won't be as satisfying to you,''" Jay said. "I do remember that day. ... And I remember Bill saying, 'Well, that didn't count. You didn't play all that good.' I said, 'No, that counts because I tried my butt off on every shot, and you just clipped me.

"For a while I would get the best of him, and then it was kind of even, and now I don't think I give it much of an effort anymore because it's kind of a losing battle."

Just as Bill and Jay Jr. have big shoes to fill, their father grew up in the shadow of his uncle Bob Goalby, who won the 1968 Masters. Jay saw it more as an opportunity, though, and he hopes his sons feel similarly.

"I guess I just felt fortunate that I had him to tutor me and mentor me on all of the different aspects of TOUR golf," Jay said. "The only thing I wanted to do that he had done was win the Masters so I could share a locker with him up in the Champions Room. I always thought that was my goal. ...

"Hopefully I've made Bill and Jay want to be a professional golfer and want to try to be successful. But as far as trying to surpass me or whatever, I sure hope they do. (I want them to) have fun with it and be successful and enjoy it. That's the bottom line."

Bill followed in his father's footsteps to Wake Forest, where he played for his uncle Jerry, also a former Deacon and TOUR pro, and was the nation's top collegian as a senior. He has made steady improvement since earning his card in 2006 and is already assured of his third straight $1 million season.

"I always felt fortunate to have (my dad) to go to to answer questions -- whether it was a golf swing or how to play this kind of shot," Bill said. "So it was almost like an extra because I could call my dad and say, 'This is what happened here; what can I do better?'

"(But) I definitely never felt pressured to play golf -- or to play golf well, for that matter."

The elder Haas is 56 now, and he plays exclusively on the Champions Tour where he has won 14 times and is a two-time Charles Schwab Cup champ. His win at the 2009 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship -- the over-50 set's equivalent of THE PLAYERS -- earned this invite to TPC Sawgrass.

In addition to setting THE PLAYERS longevity record, Jay could also become the oldest to make the cut -- eclipsing Julius Boros who played all four rounds in 1975 at the age of 55. He posted his best finish, a tie for second, in 2003 and will be competing in his first PLAYERS since 2005.

"The course has changed a little bit since the last time I played there, so I'm a little bit apprehensive about that, and (I'm) not playing my best right now," said Jay, whose tie for fourth with Fred Couples at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf is his best finish of the season.

"But I'm looking forward to being out there on the range with (Bill), competing and seeing a lot of the guys that I haven't seen for a while, too.

"Just being on the biggest stage in golf."