Jay Haas is getting old.
Just ask him.
He’ll tell you.
In a 30 minute press conference before the Senior Players Championship, Haas spent the majority of the time on Tuesday afternoon talking about the reality of the situation. Even though Haas, at 54, comes across 15 years younger than his age, he can see the end of his playing days coming sooner rather than later.
“When you’re 24, and you meet someone who’s 54, you think that guy already has one foot in the grave,” Haas said with a smile in front of a small gathering with the media.
Haas said that he still has the same passion for the game when he first teed it up many, many years ago. Once, he asked Tiger Woods if he ever lost his focused either before or during a playing round, and before Haas finished the question, Woods glared back at him and simply said no.
Haas also said that he still gets ramped up for the Senior Players the same way he did for The Players Championship. Saying it’s the strongest field of the season, Haas wants to earn double points for the Champions Tour points race which culminates in the Charles Schwab Cup.
Having a blast on the range during a practice day, Haas obviously enjoys this part of the week the most. On Tuesday, everyone trades stories and you can hear the deep belly laughs from the putting green. On Thursday morning, everything changes and all 78 of the Champions head into competition mode.
Check out the play of Jay Haas over the weekend. I’m guessing you won’t think he’s as old as he feels.
