Titleist Brand Ambassador Bill Haas has accumulated six victories since joining the PGA TOUR in 2006, including the 2013 AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, the site of this year's Quicken Loans National. With the exception of 2014, Haas has won at least one event every year since 2010. In 2011, he secured the season-long FedExCup title following a dramatic season-ending victory at the TOUR Championship, the same year he finished T23 at the U.S. Open at Congressional. He is coming off a T-51 finish at last week's U.S. Open at Oakmont, where he followed up a first round 76 with a 1-under-par 69 on Friday to make the cut.

"We're basically going from one U.S. Open venue to another this week," said Haas prior to his Wednesday pro-am round this week. "This course is more tree-lined and the rough probably won't be as difficult to get out of compared to Oakmont, but it is still a major test."

Congressional will stretch to 7,569 yards and play to a par 71 this week, but could feel longer to the players after rain drenched the course on Tuesday afternoon and evening. Either way, like last week, keeping the golf ball in the fairway off the tee will be a key to success.

"The rough will be penal, but it is fair," said Haas. "Players will still have an opportunity to advance it and have a shot to the green. When I won here a few years ago, my putting was the big key. I felt like I could make anything and it was what separated me from the pack."

Haas' description of the leaderboard in 2013 is accurate. It was tightly packed with four players, including Haas, tied for the lead after 54 holes, and six players who had at least a share of the lead during the front nine on Sunday. Haas pulled away with three straight birdies on holes 8 through 10 and added two more on 14 and 16 en route to a final round 5-under-par 66 and a three-shot win.

"It's funny, but what I probably recall most about the weekend though was my Saturday round," said Haas. He should. It was a roller coaster card that included a sizzling nine birdies, five pars, three bogeys and a disappointing triple bogey. "I shot a 68 to stay in the hunt, but I remember I had a triple on No. 11 and pretty much gave up everything I made on the front nine." What the humble Haas didn't mention was that he bounced back with three birdies on his next four holes.

"You really can't take any holes off here," said Haas. "There are stretches like 4 through 9 where you can be aggressive and go for birdies, and then you have holes 10 through 15 where getting through in even par could be picking up strokes on the field."

Haas finished T-4 at this event last year, when it was held at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, putting himself into contention with a third round 7-under-par 64.

Haas has made 12 of 16 cuts and has posted four Top 10 finishes this year, including a playoff loss at the Valspar Championship, but he’s far from satisfied this season.

"I felt like I played well earlier in the season, but I've had some tough weeks the last month or so and I haven't really performed the way I would like," said Haas, who is 36th in the current FedExCup standings and 39th in the Official World Golf Ranking. "So I think anytime you step on the first tee and you can remember doing well, like I do here at Congressional, it gives you a little bit more confidence and I need that right now. I am looking forward to it, hopefully getting off to a good start and be in contention on Sunday."

Haas certainly fulfilled the first half of his game plan, firing a 5-under-par 66 in the opening round at Congressional on his way to the front page of the leaderboard.  He's one of 79 players trusting a Titleist golf ball at the Quicken Loans National, more than seven times the nearest competitor with 11 and more than all competitors combined.

Titleist was also the top choice among players in the hybrids category (27) as well as the irons category with 33 sets in play.

Vokey Design Wedges also topped the approach, sand and lob wedge (162) category and Scotty Cameron putters were the top choice among players with 50 putters in play.

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Let's take a closer look inside Bill Haas' Titleist Staff Bag:

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Driver: 917D2 (9.5°) prototype

Fairway Metal: 915F (13.5°, 18°)

Irons:  716 AP2 (3-PW)

Wedges: Vokey Design SM6 sand (53° S-grind) and lob (59° S-grind)

Putter: Scotty Cameron Futura X7

This is the first week of seeding new Titleist 917 drivers on the PGA TOUR. After being fit by the Titleist Tour staff on Tuesday and then play-testing it during the pro-am on Wednesday, Bill Haas is putting a new 917D2 (9.5°) prototype in his bag.

"I'm not the longest hitter with the most ball speed out here, so accuracy is the key for me," said Haas. "My immediate reaction was that I was hitting this straighter and still seeing a couple of more miles per hour ball speed which will ultimately provide me more distance. I really like the look and feel, and I am confident that it will perform under the gun come Thursday."

Haas returned his trusty 915F '5-wood' (15° fairway metal) to his bag this week after replacing it with a T-MB 2-iron at the U.S. Open.

"With the rough being so thick at Oakmont, I didn't really see a need to carry the 5-wood because I wouldn't be able to advance the ball out of it anyway," said Haas. "It made a lot more sense to put the T-MB 2-iron in the bag and use it mostly to get pretty good distance off the tee and stay in the fairway. I'm back to the 5-wood this week since I'll be able to hit more drivers off the tee and use the 5-wood out of the rough if necessary."

 

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