Belleville’s Jay Haas has been an exemplary player, first as an amateur and then as a professional. A leader off the course, he is one of the few individuals to have been honored with both the PGA Tour’s Payne Stewart Award and the USGA’s Bob Jones Award. Representing Belleville West, he won the 1971 Illinois high school title. Four years later, he led Wake Forest to the 1975 NCAA Championship and won the individual title as well. A three-time All-America selection, he was undefeated in the 1975 Walker Cup Match. Low amateur in the 1974 U.S. Open, he shared that distinction in 1975. Haas won nine times on the PGA Tour, set the record for cuts made with 592, and scored 2 1/2 critical points in the 1983 U.S. Ryder Cup team’s narrow victory. Through 2013, he’s won 16 times on the Champions Tour, including three senior majors.
