What they said: Bill Haas

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MARK STEVENS: I'd like to welcome Bill Haas to the interview room. Congratulations on winning the 2010 Viking Classic, becoming one of seven players to be a multiple winner this year on the PGA Tour. If you'll kind of take us through your final round. Then we'll go ahead and take some questions.

BILL HAAS: Okay. Got off to a tough start, bogeying the 1st hole. Both times I've hit good tee shots there, and today I just rolled into the bunker, made bogey. But then I responded nicely, played pretty nice all through the front nine, made two birdies on the par 5s, which were key.

10, 11, 12, both days on the weekend kind of killed me. I was just looking to play those three holes 4 over on the weekend, and no, 5 over. Excuse me. So I would have liked to have done those three over again on the weekend. It would have made things easier.

Even though I still had a couple of bogeys coming in, to make three birdies on 13, 16, 17, were not easy, but that was pretty sweet to do that.

MARK STEVENS: Thank you. Questions?

Q. Did you realize what happened with Michael's shot on 13? Did you when did you realize he was out of bounds?

BILL HAAS: We didn't realize it until we found the ball. Honestly, when we got down there, the spotter said, there's the second ball that went out of bounds. So I hit second. So for a second, Michael's caddie Michael walked up there and checked it and said it was my ball. That's just a bad break. Honestly, Michael just hit a perfect tee shot. He maybe pulled it a yard, but he has a little bit lower ball flight, and it must have just barely clipped the limb and kicked it left, hit the pass.

I told him, when we got done, I said, you didn't miss a shot on the back nine. I didn't know what else to say. He played beautifully. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for him, you know, it just worked out in my favor. He really did play well.

Q. How nice was it, after he hit he rehit, he hit his ball right next to yours on 13. Did you get a good read on that for that birdie putt?

BILL HAAS: Yes, sir. That whole entire hole for him was a bad break. For his ball to end up right behind mine. I even had to mark it because it was pretty much right on his line, and I thought it would go a little right, and he missed his putt left, and I said, well, it must not go, and I pretty much hit a dead straight putt right in the heart. So not only did I gain three shots, but he helped me do that a little bit there with his putt.

Very fortunate. I think, to win, you have to have that kind of stuff happen.

Q. What did you learn about yourself on 16 and 17? Because it was still, what, a two-shot advantage, I think, going into 16? Talk about what you did there.

BILL HAAS: I learned, even when you're nervous and even when you don't know that you can hit the shot, you can because it's amazing how you think you'd be comfortable with a two shot lead, but you're not. You might even be more nervous because you know you have to you can't mess up as opposed to Michael, maybe two back, he just knew he had to keep hitting good golf shots, and he did.

But that second shot on 16 was really nice. Steven, my caddie, helped me, gave me a good read there. I think I asked him twice all week for a read, and I asked him there. I kind of threw him under the gun there with three holes to go. But we had a good read there and hit a nice putt.

And then 17 was just kind of lucky, hit two great shots. I was definitely just trying to get it close down there. Thinking Michael yeah, Michael was going to make his putt, I was happy with the two shot lead going into 18, trying not to three putt. So to make that and still have a three shot lead was just a big bonus.

Q. Talk about what this does for your career and where it takes you now, where it's elevated you, in your mind.

BILL HAAS: Yeah, well, I always said, after winning one, you want to win two. Now I want to win a third. And next week, I plan on playing, and we all start at even. If I bogey the first, I'll be disappointed. It's a grind out here. You've got to take it shot to shot, week to week.

I was kind of disappointed with the way the year ended up, you know, missing out on the TOUR Championship. So to come here in the fall finish, basically to get another go at it and to come out on top here is really sweet.

Q. And this got you in the top party as of now. What are you?

BILL HAAS: 26.

Q. Probably stay there. Or stay out of...

BILL HAAS: Got to play, yeah.

Q. How big is the top 30 for you?

BILL HAAS: It's big. I don't want to say the wrong thing, but I think it gets you in the Masters.

MARK STEVENS: And U.S. Open.

BILL HAAS: And the U.S. Open. I don't think it gets you in the British, but to get back in the Masters would be sweet. I really actually played pretty well there this year. I had a bad Sunday, but I like the place. I'm not going to sit here and say I expect to win a green jacket next year, if I get there, but I really liked playing there. I like the feeling of being there. When you're in that locker room, you feel like you've accomplished something.

Q. Does that get you into World Golf Championships like Firestone next year?

MARK STEVENS: It will get him in the invitationals.

Q. How are those events? Those are pretty special events.

BILL HAAS: I wasn't aware. That's really special. My goal at the end of the year was top 30. I knew that would get me in those, and that's kind of still my goal. Think two wins in a year gets you an extra year on tour. Is that right?

MARK STEVENS: I'll have to look that one up. There's a lot of combinations.

BILL HAAS: Just job security is pretty cool. I've been to Q School twice, played in the Nationwide Tour, and I know how good the guys are on the Nationwide Tour. If you get pushed back there, then it's not easy to get back out here. So job security is huge out here. To know that I have another year of eligibility, to come out here and keep competing and keep trying to win is awesome.

Q. With your being a multiple winner, it kind of puts you with Els and Furyk and all that. Are you excited to see how you now do at the big level in the big events?

BILL HAAS: That's the reason we play. The better you play, the more chances you get to play against the best players in the world. It's crazy how good the field is here in Jackson, and our best players are over at the Ryder Cup. It's not easy to win, you know, and you want to get to that next level, the World Golf Championships, the Majors, and you want to play well there.

Maybe I proved to myself that I can win at the Bob Hope and the Viking, but I don't know even how to describe what it would feel like to win a U.S. Open or even a WGC event, the best players in the world. But any time you win out here, it's a real accomplishment.

MARK STEVENS: Just to clarify, he was exempt through 2012 with his win at the Bob Hope. This adds another year on that to 2013. It gets him into all the invitationals next year, but the World Golf ones are based on world ranking.

Q. Do you know what his world ranking is?

MARK STEVENS: Maybe 90. So it will bump him up, I'm not sure how far.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about how you were handling or did you have to handle your nerves on the back nine?

BILL HAAS: I had to handle my nerves since the first hole. But it's just not easy. I remember feeling it at the Bob Hope. I didn't feel any different today. I felt nervous. I almost laid the ball up in the water on 18, and I think that's nerve related, you know. You've got to stick to your guns and remember that you practiced, that you can hit a 6 iron straight and not 20 yards out. I was fortunate I hit the club I hit and I hit it how I hit it, and I stayed short of the water.

Q. You talked about you said you liked Augusta, you liked that course. What do you think about this course? You've played here, what, three times now and finished tied for third, tied for fourth, and won it. What are your thoughts on this course and how it fits your game?

BILL HAAS: I love it. I love Annandale. No, I don't know. I think I'm comfortable here. I've actually stayed with good people here. I only stayed in a hotel once here, and the tournament got rained out. Other times, I've stayed with some families that I've become good friends with. It's comfortable when I leave the golf course.

The tee shots, I think certain holes this week I was kind of working on hitting the cut off the tee, and there's a lot of tee shots that you can hit a cut, and it works. Felt comfortable with that. That swing worked.

If you get on the fairway, the course overall is a pretty short course, especially this week the way the balls were running. If you get on the fairways and you have a pitching wedge, sand wedge, 9 irons, it makes the game seem a little easier. Definitely didn't expect to make I don't know how many birdies I made, 23 maybe. 18 coming into today, 5 today is that right? 23. Didn't expect to make that. When you make 23, you don't necessarily want to shoot 15 under. You'd like to do a little bit better than that.

Yeah, I don't know. I always come back here, if I can.

MARK STEVENS: Okay. Thanks a lot. Good luck next week.

BILL HAAS: Thank you.

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