'Can't Miss Kid' Gets His First Win

By winning the Bob Hope Classic Monday for his first PGA Tour victory, Bill Haas released all the pressure that had been building since he arrived on tour after an exceptional career at Wake Forest.

Interestingly, Haas said despite not winning in his first four seasons on the tour with a pair of third-place finishes as his best performances, he felt less pressure recently than when he was a rookie.

"When I came out, all the articles were about the 'can't-miss kid,'" Haas said Monday night. "I had a great college career but this is so different. Ever missed putt is not a slow ride back to campus. It's taking money out of your bank account and can affect whether you can play the next year.

"The pressure starting out was great. I don't want to say I failed but I didn't live up to the expectations of others."

Having grown up watching his father, Jay, live the ups and downs of tour life, Haas understood what he was getting into. He'd played enough golf with his father and his father's friends to know that success in college didn't guarantee anything on the PGA Tour.

"I knew how good everyone was out here," Haas said. "Even when I was finishing college, I was only beating my dad about one out of every 10 times we played so I knew has tough it was."