Vintage Haas up to his old tricks

GOLF US Open: Remember Jay Haas, the player Philip Walton beat in the singles of the Ryder Cup in 1995? While the Irishman's career has nose-dived since then, his vanquished opponent has been reborn.

If he wanted to, Haas could literally be rolling a wheelbarrow up and down the fairways of the Champions Tour and throwing greenbacks into it. Millions of them. But that's not what he wants to do. Instead, Haas, who turned 50 last December, prefers to throw his weight around with golf's heavyweights, guys who are a generation younger. And, in yesterday's first round of the US Open, he was up to his old tricks again.

In shooting a first-round four-under-par 66, Haas - who first competed in the US Open in 1974 and has a best finish of tied-fourth here in 1995 - jumped into contention for a first major title, something that has eluded him throughout his career. His last tournament win may have been way back in 1993, but these days Haas is playing some of the best golf of his life and has already accumulated $1.2 million in prize money on the regular US Tour this season while manoeuvring his way towards a spot on the Ryder Cup team for Oakland Hills in September.

"I'm hitting the ball longer that I ever have, and feel more confident with my putter," said Haas. "But, until I win, I won't say that it is the best I've played . . . but I do think it is probably equal to the most consistent stretch that I've ever had."

Of course, Haas has golfing genes. As a 14-year-old, he watched his uncle Bob Goalby - who, a decade earlier, watched his nephew take his first swings with a broken club that he had regripped - win the US Masters in 1968. "At the time, I guess I didn't really appreciate what it meant to him and how difficult it is to win a major. Now, so many years later, I realise it is a pretty special feat for anyone to win a major golf tournament . . . I can't tell you what it would mean for me to do something like that. Who knows what will happen?"

Haas is in no doubt that improved technology has enabled him to stretch his career so long. "The equipment has given me renewed passion for the game," he conceded. "I think in 2000 I was 148th or something like that on the money list. I just didn't want that to be it. I worked a little harder, and then along came the better equipment. I'm consistently longer from driver down to my pitching wedge. The driver is a graphite-shafted 45-inch titanium head Titleist that just seems to go so much farther than the old wood-and-steel Tommy Armour."

In yesterday's first round, Haas had five birdies and a lone bogey - at the second - on his way to a 66 that made him an unlikely front runner. Yet, on reflection, it was two par saves that gave him most satisfaction: one came on the par-three seventh hole, where he made a sand save from the front-left bunker; and an even more important one was made on the difficult 10th, where his approach again found a bunker. This time, though, a rock was lying in front of his ball.

"I lobbed this thing up, and it went straight in the air. The ball was going one way and the rock the other," said Haas.

The ball finished 20 feet from the pin, and the rock only eight feet from the hole.

Playing partner Tom Kite walked onto the green, picked up the rock, and remarked, "Is this your Titleist 1? Do you want to play this one?"

To which Haas replied, "I'd like to be able to play that one."

Nevertheless, he holed the 20-footer for par and moved on to birdie the short 11th to set up an error-free run home that brought further rewards with his final birdie of the round on another par three, the 17th.