Hunter

Haas

Haas hit nine (of 14) fairways, 16 greens and took 26 putts. He converted an eagle-2 at the 15th hole with a putt from 19'11" and circled nine birdies, including rolls of 12'0", 16'7" and 14'7" at the 14th, first and seventh holes, respectively. He actually had a putt for a 59 after finding the green in two at the par-5 ninth, but it measured 120'3". After his attempt for the eagle fell short by 8'1", he missed the next for birdie and settled for par. The 61 followed an opening 71 so he’s an aggregate 10-under 132. Davis Love III was the first to sign for a 61 at TPC Summerlin. Tag Ridings matched it in 2004. Neither guy won the tournament that week.

Haas has endured a terrible start to 2012. He cashed in only two of eight starts prior to this week, hasn’t posted a top 35 and hadn’t broken 68 until today’s magical loop of Redstone. Overall, he split 13 (of 14) fairways, hit 14 greens and needed just 25 putts. He started things off with a chip-in for birdie seven yards out at the third hole. Things escalated in a major way beginning at the sixth where his birdie attempt disappeared from 27'4". He chased that with another birdie at the seventh from 14'5". At the par-5 eighth, after short-siding his approach into a greenside bunker, he navigated a birdie froim 58'8", and then rolled in a par save of 16'2" at the ninth. His lone notable conversion on his inward side measured a tame 11'6" at the 12th hole. Haas is 6-under 138 at the midpoint, five strokes adrift of the 36-hole clubhouse co-leaders.

The Texan is a mere 4-for-10 this season with zero top 35s, so this is a welcome site for any gamers that have remained on board. Haas hit 15 greens at TPC San Antonio today and took a tidy 27 putts. While he closed out his round with an eagle putt of just 58 inches, his more impressive conversions occurred earlier. He rolled in birdies of 15'2", 24'5" and 19'3" at the second, seventh and 10th holes, respectively. He also kept his card blemish-free with a par save from six yards off the green at the fourth hole.

Haas started triple bogey-par-bogey before calling it quits. He entered the week having posted top 25s in two of his last three starts.

We’ll slap a question mark next to this commitment on our Injury Report. He withdrew after just holes in his opening round of THE PLAYERS. If he plays next week, he’ll be gunning to validate last year’s T14.

It’s taken six starts but Haas has finally gone low in the first round his year. In his previous five starts, he’s posted four 72s and a 75, missing the cut four times and finishing T54 at Pebble Beach. At El Camaleon today, he hit 14 greens, took 30 putts and circled six birdies to finish one back of the clubhouse lead.

The native Texan circled six birdies to a lone bogey, and concludes the week at 4-under 284. This week’s finish will easily supplant his T37 at Mayakoba for his best of 2012. Haas had a steady week with the irons, landing 65.3 percent GIR on a course where greens were hard to hold. He will now travel to the TPC Louisiana for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

After his only top 35 of the year -- a T8 in San Antonio -- Haas missed the cut in New Orleans last week, but he’s regained form at Quail Hollow. He’s hit only 23 greens in regulation thus far but has suffered just one bogey. He can cite a tidy 52 putts as his formula to contend at the midpoint. He’s at 8-under 136, four strokes off the 36-hole clubhouse lead.

He was last seen in the Lone Star state for the Shell Houston Open, and he finished in a 75th place tie that included a second-round 65. Haas is 72nd in driving accuracy and 42nd in Strokes Gained-Putting.

Haas was bogey-free with 12 points (on six birdies) through 15 holes. He squared two bogeys coming in to erase one birdie. At the time he signed his card, he led the field in Strokes Gained-Putting with a clip north of 4.050. He hit 11 greens and took 25 putts.