Bill Haas may not have come from nowhere to win golf’s richest crown — but he certainly took an unconventional route.
Haas won a dramatic winner-take-all playoff worth $11.44 million against Hunter Mahan to capture the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup titles Sunday at East Lake Golf Club. He won the PGA Tour playoff title by coming from 25th position in the points standings. He won the tournament by surviving one tee shot that landed in a grandstand and another in a fairway bunker and an approach shot that landed in water.
Haas said he was unaware that both titles — and the large sum of money — were on the line in the playoff.
“The back nine on Sunday, guys like Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, they made it look like it’s just a practice round sometimes,” Haas said. “I know in my head they don’t feel that way. They’re not relaxed, they’re grinding. I get it. But I know what I’m feeling. ...Your hands do shake and it’s not because of the prize, it’s because of winning the golf tournament and you not wanting to fumble down the stretch.”
Haas won the playoff title with the slimmest of mathematical chances entering the final of the four-event postseason. He was 25th on the points standings in the 30-player field. He needed to win the Tour Championship, which he did at 8 under par despite bogeys on two of the last three holes. And he needed a lot of help. Among the myriad of scenarios that had to play out, points leader Webb Simpson had to finish 19th or worse. He finished tied for 23rd.
Jim Furyk won last year’s FedEx Cup from 11th place, by far the biggest jump in the four-year history of the PGA Tour’s playoff. That was until Sunday.
The journey to the FedEx Cup title was not as strange as Haas’ three-hole playoff Tour Championship win. On the first playoff hole, No. 18, his tee shot landed in the grandstands to the right of the green. “I probably hit at least three people,” Haas said.
The ball bounced out and landed below the structure with enough room for Haas to chip to 11 feet. He made the par putt, and Mahan saved his par from the greenside bunker.
On the second playoff hole, No. 17, his tee shot landed in the fairway bunker. His approach shot rolled over the green, down the hill and came to rest partially submerged in East Lake. He chipped to about two feet and made the putt. Mahan ripped his tee shot down the middle and his approach on the green, but his potential multi-million dollar putt slid by the cup, and he settled for par.
“I thought I had [a birdie] on the second playoff hole, and then he hits it out of the water to two feet,” Mahan said. “It seemed like he was destined to win this week.”
Haas won on the third playoff hole. Again playing No. 18, this time his 4-iron tee shot landed at the back of the green some 50 feet from the cup. His first putt settled four feet from the cup. Mahan found the same greenside bunker and was unable to save par. Haas drained the remaining putt which “seemed like 12 feet” for the victory.
The improbable journey, by the most improbable route, was over.
“I can’t say the word fortunate or lucky enough,” Haas said. “I hit horrendous shots. I just fortunately hit really good recovery shots.”
Haas, the son of PGA player Jay Haas, won $10 million for the FedEx Cup and $1.44 million for the Tour Championship. He will collect $9 million of the bonus now with the remaining million going to an annuity.
“When I came in to do TV interviews, I saw both trophies were there and I was the only player,” Haas said of when he discovered he’d also won the FedEx Cup. “I looked at my wife and I said ‘Did I win that one?’ She nodded her head and that’s when I realized. I even said to [PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem] ‘I didn’t know I won this.’ He said ‘Yeah, congratulations. Both are for you.’”
The leader of the points list changed eight times Sunday. Mahan was the leader entering the final round. He would fall from the spot and regain it three times. In between K.J. Choi, Simpson, Haas twice and Jason Day all had the lead. When Haas bogeyed the 18th hole in regulation, he dropped into a three-way tie with Mahan and Day at 8 under par. Day bogeyed the 17th and 18th holes to fall out of contention and set up the two-player playoff.
Simpson finished second in the FedEx Cup playoffs and collects a $3 million bonus. Mahan ended seventh in the playoffs, collecting $700,000 to go with his $864,000 tournament winnings.
Haas, the only player to shoot all four rounds in the 60s, said he is unsure what he will do with the windfall. Some will go toward the new house he and his wife, Julie, are planning to build.
“I’m laying in bed tonight going ‘This is pretty cool,’” Haas said. “I mean, I was not expecting these thoughts last night.”
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