Haas shoots below his age in senior major

This makes a welcome change; a golf story that doesn't involve money. Jay Haas is now 68 and coming to the end of an illustrious career but he can still get it round.

In the first round of the US Senior Open Championship he achieved a notable first by shooting lower than his age in a major. Haas shared the lead after day one at Saucon Valley after a four-under 67 which was just the fifth time that a player had shot their age in this particular championship – the others are Tom Watson, Hale Irwin, Harold McSpaden and Jerry Barber, who somehow did it nine times.

Haas had shot his age six times before but never in a major.

“That's a pretty good score to break (your age) on a course like this. I’m on the edge of saying that’s enough. And if I play too many bad rounds in a row, then I’m done. Maybe that drives me. I don’t want to be done. So I keep working at it and keep trying to shoot good scores,” Haas said.

Haas first broke his age when he was 65 – the six-time PGA Tour winner shot 64 in 2019. More recently he shot a 66 a few weeks ago.

“He's still very competitive,” Steve Stricker said. “He still plays a lot. He’s a straight driver of the ball, which you need to be here, and he scrambles well still. That’s what you need at a US Open, whether it’s on the regular Tour or the Senior Open."