Career firsts: Jay Haas

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Even professional golfers had to start somewhere. With the 2009 season just around the corner, PGATOUR.COM will take a look at some important firsts -- including their first golf lesson and PGA TOUR win -- for popular Champions Tour golfers and PGA TOUR veterans. Learn more about Jay Haas.

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Jay Haas celebrates his first Champions Tour victory.

FIRST GOLF LESSON. "My uncle, Bob Goalby, gave me my first lesson and it came during the summer when I was five years old. He showed me how to put my hands on the club and told me to shift my weight back to my right side when I took the club back and finish with the weight on my left side with my belt buckle pointing at the hole. That was probably the first lesson I had until I was eight or nine years old and then I got another one. When I do junior clinics, I still talk about a good weight shift back and finishing with your belt buckle aiming towards the target."

FIRST START IN A PGA TOUR EVENT. 1973 Greater Greensboro Open. Haas, then a freshman at Wake Forest, played as an amateur at the tournament in nearby Greensboro, N.C. He finished in 61st place.

FIRST PGA TOUR VICTORY. 1978 Andy Williams-San Diego Open. His first victory on the PGA TOUR came at Torrey Pines GC, where he beat Andy Bean, Gene Littler and John Schroeder by three strokes. Thanks to second-round 64, Haas won in his just fourth start of the year. It was the first of nine TOUR victories for Haas but not his first win by any stretch. Haas captured his first trophy at the National Pee Wee Championship in Orlando at age seven and won the 1975 NCAA Championship.

FIRST MILLION-DOLLAR SEASON. 2003. Haas re-emerged in 2003 to finish 15th on the money list with earnings of $2.5 million. That was almost three times better than his previous-best, single-season earnings of $822,259 in 1995.

FIRST CHAMPIONS TOUR START. 2004 Senior PGA Championship. How's this for a Champions Tour debut? Haas began at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., where he finished one stroke behind Hale Irwin in solo second. Irwin took the title with a two-putt birdie from 40 feet on the final hole.

FIRST CHAMPIONS TOUR WIN. 2005 Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn. It had been almost 12 years since Haas won. In fact, it was his first victory in 304 combined starts on the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour. Haas' maiden win came in western North Carolina when he notched three consecutive rounds in the 60s. He birdied three straight holes on the final day to cap off the tournament with a 7-under-par 65 and beat Loren Roberts and Dana Quigley by two strokes.

OTHER FIRSTS. He's won the Charles Schwab Cup trophy two times in the past three seasons. Haas has also captured 12 titles on the Champions Tour and has earned Player of the Year honors twice. ...In 2007, he took home the Arnold Palmer Award as the Champions Tour's leading money winner for the second straight year.. ...Haas played on the Ryder Cup squad for Team USA in 1983, 1995 and 2004. The United States was victorious in 1983. ...He was a captain's pick for the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994 and contributed to the United States' victory by winning three matches. ...Haas received the 2004 Payne Stewart Award. He was also given the Jim Murray Award by the Golf Writers Association of America in 2005 and, that same year, received the Bob Jones Award, the USGA's highest honor for distinguished sportsmanship.