The first happened all the way back in 1861. The most recent occurred in 2018.
First, a disclaimer. We are not predicting future professional success for Charlie Woods, the golfing offspring of proud papa Tiger Woods. We’re enjoying watching him grow up right in front of our eyes alongside dad at the PNC Championship, but Charlie, like any young phenom, has a long road ahead before he starts hoisting trophies.
Nonetheless, it is fun to think of the possibilities. And if Charlie were to ascend to the Tour and starting winning on that level, those two would join a pretty exclusive list.
There are 10 father-son combinations to win on the PGA Tour. The first happened all the way back in 1861. The most recent occurred in 2018. Here’s the list.
Since the FedEx Cup Playoffs began in 2007, 13 different champions have been crowned. Rory McIlroy leads the way with three FedEx Cups to his name, surpassing Tiger Woods’ record in 2019. The two all-time greats are the only players to claim multiple FedEx Cups.
Jay Haas, 68, is the oldest player to make a cut on the PGA Tour, edging past Sam Snead, who did it in 1979.
All Bill Haas wanted to do was cozy his 47-foot birdie putt into tap-in range at the 18th hole at TPC Louisiana so Team Haas could have a stress-free finish to the second round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. So much for best-laid plans.
Bill’s putt stalled 4 ½ feet short meaning his dad, Jay, would have to sweat over a par putt in the alternate-shot format to make the cut of the PGA Tour’s lone two-man team event as part of the FedEx Cup season.
For Jay, 68, he’d been in this spot too many times and he delivered as he had on so many Fridays before.
“That was probably as nervous as I’ve ever been over a putt of that length certainly,” he said. “It sounds silly just to have a chance to make the cut. However, there’s a lot of circumstances here that it kind of made it doubly important in my mind.”
That included becoming the oldest player to make a cut on the PGA Tour, edging past Sam Snead, who made the cut at the 1979 Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic at 67 years, 2 months and 23 days.
“I don’t think it should (count) because Sam Snead did it on his own and all that, but anything that I’m even remotely close to Sam Snead on would be very special,” said Haas, of Snead, who was in the field when he made his Tour debut at the 1973 Wyndham Championship.
Haas is making his 799th Tour start, second on the all-time list behind Mark Brooks (803). Among his other achievements he counts leading the record books with 591 made cuts. And Jay, who captained the 2015 U.S. Presidents Cup team, was no slouch in his prime, winning nine times on Tour and another 18 times on PGA Tour Champions, where he remains active.
Jay Haas and Bill Haas react on the ninth green during the first round of the 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana. (Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
On Thursday, young guns Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland were asked if they could imagine making 800 Tour starts.
“We’ve got a long ways to go,” Hovland said.
“No, I can’t imagine that,” Morikawa added.
“That’s cool. He must have seen some stuff,” Hovland said. “He must have some pretty good stories. That’s a lot of events.”
Team Haas opened with 7-under 65 at the Pete Dye-designed layout matching the best-ball score of Morikawa and Hovland, ranked second and fifth in the world respectively, and defending champions Cameron Smith (No. 4) and Marc Leishman.
On Friday, Team Haas signed for 1-under 71 and made the cut on the number, tying at 8-under 136 with World No. 1 and reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and his partner Ryan Palmer.
“I was getting stretched this morning,” Bill said, “and Charley Hoffman was raving about how good (my dad) played yesterday, and I just kind of said, ‘Well, I see it all the time at home. This isn’t anything new.’ ”
Father and son got off to an auspicious start with birdies at the first two holes. Bill rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt at the first and his old man stuck a wedge to 4 feet at the par-5 second. A bogey at the third only slowed their progress momentarily as they continued to make hay on the par 5s, adding birdies at Nos. 7 and 11. That improved their score to 10 under and comfortably inside the cut line. But the trip to the house was shaky from there with bogeys at Nos. 14 and 17.
“I was grinding,” Bill said. “At 14, he hit an unbelievable hybrid in there on that par-3 and I ran it by five feet and we three-putted, and then the next hole he hit a beautiful 6-iron and I left that three feet short.”
Bill added: “It’s just hard when you’re trying so hard. It’s one of the hardest things to do in golf is to let that go and quit trying so hard and just execute.”
Bill, 39, won the FedEx Cup in 2011 and six Tour titles but none since 2015. He has struggled in recent years to keep his card and this season is using a one-time exemption for being top-25 on the all-time Tour money list. He entered the week at No. 168 in FedEx Cup point standings.
Father and son earned a chance to enjoy two more rounds together, and already have clinched the feel-good story of the week.
“To somehow shake that putt in on the last hole was something I’ll never forget,” Jay said. “But just the whole week, playing with Bill, getting texts from all my kids, it’s just been a real charge.”
“I tried to discourage him, that he needed a partner that could help him a little bit more,” said his father.
Bill Haas would not take no for an answer.
In his search for a partner for the Zurich Classis of New Orleans, the PGA Tour’s only official team competition, Haas had his eye on one player.
Didn’t matter if he hadn’t played in a PGA Tour event since 2010. Didn’t matter that he hadn’t made a PGA Tour cut since 2006. Didn’t matter if his last PGA Tour win came in the 1993 Texas Open.
And it didn’t matter if the player tried to persuade Haas to look elsewhere.
“I tried to discourage him, that he needed a partner that could help him a little bit more,” the player said. “I said, are you sure? I don’t want you to waste a week just to play with me. We can play any time. I kind of kept thinking, well, he’s going to come to his senses and find one of his buddies.”
Well, Haas did find a buddy to play with him – his dad, Jay. Father Haas, 68, finally gave his son the answer he was looking for and the two will begin play Thursday at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, Louisiana.
It will be the elder Haas’ 799th start on the PGA Tour, his first since missing the cut in the 2010 Players Championship. He has played four times on the PGA Tour Champions this year; he’s won 18 titles on the senior circuit to go along with nine PGA Tour titles.
“Just being with him out here and being on the same range with him again, looking down the aisles here and just seeing all the great players that we have, so it’s something I’ve been thinking about, certainly nervous about,” Jay Haas said. “Yesterday didn’t help me in any way because I didn’t play very well. So hopefully I’ll get better as the week goes on. It’s just fun being here, again being with Bill, getting the adrenaline flowing, and hopefully we can do better than I’m anticipating I’m going to do.
“The more I thought about it, the more I’m loving it. All the guys out here have been great. So many people have said this is unbelievably cool that you’re getting to do that.”
Captain Jay Haas of the United States Team watches the play alongside his son Bill on the eighth tee during the Saturday foursomes matches at The Presidents Cup at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea on October 10, 2015 in Songdo IBD, Incheon City, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
Bill Haas, 39, who will be making his 442nd PGA Tour start, is glad his dad will be by his side. The winner of the FedEx Cup in 2011 and six PGA Tour titles can’t wait for Thursday to come.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to play together. Pretty special to be able to have your dad play in a PGA Tour event with you,” Bill Haas said. “I love him watching me play. Last week he came down and my mom came down and watched me at Hilton Head. I just enjoy him being out there. He listens to me go through my rounds on the phone or in person sometimes. When he’s there, he sees what I’m talking about, and he helps me with my game.
“It’s just a good opportunity to play golf and enjoy it and have fun, but also inside the ropes be competitive and him be able to see what I’m talking about when I say either I’m struggling or here I hit a good one, what do you see here?
“It’s just a special week. Something that I’m really looking forward to and I’ll remember forever.”
The two have played as a team before in non-official tournaments hosted by Peter Jacobsen, the other by Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon. As for now, the senior Haas has no intention of making an 800th PGA Tour start. He just wants to concentrate on No. 799 and have fun with his son.
“I tell people that I still see the shot and I still think I can do it, and a lot of times it doesn’t come off that way,” he said. “This is a pretty good eye opener. I’ve played with Bill at home a lot, and he’s 30, 40, 50 (yards) in front of me and it’s a steady diet of it. This is one of the longest courses out here. So it’s probably not the greatest spot for me to debut. I still feel like I can do it at certain times.
“With a partner, a great partner, hopefully I can contribute when the time comes and not embarrass myself. I don’t want to just show up and go through the motions. The competitive spirit in both of us, and certainly me, I’m going to be hard on myself, but I always am. I always have been. I kick myself all the time hitting bad shots.
“Hopefully I can hit some good shots and make some birdies and everything, but ultimately, to be with my son, again, on the grandest stage here, that’s what I’m trying to take from it.”
