Haas named Presidents Cup assistant captain

2008-03-30

Share this article:  Digg |  StumbleUpon |  del.icio.us |  Reddit

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (Ticker) -- Jay Haas was named captain''s assistant Thursday for the United States PresidentsCup team.

Haas was tabbed by team captain Fred Couples, who made theannouncement during a conference call from this week''s ChampionsTour Ginn Championship.

Haas and Couples were teammates on the first Presidents Cup teamin 1994 and also played in a match together at the 1995 RyderCup.

"Jay has been one of my closest friends in golf for many years,and I respect his competitive instincts and leadership abilitiesvery much," Couples said. "Jay has been a part of thePresidents Cup and Ryder Cup, and that experience will be veryimportant to the team. I will be counting on him to help mewith everything we do."

The two-time reigning Champions Tour Player of the Year, Haaswill assist Couples at the 2009 Presidents Cup. The event willbe held at San Francisco''s Harding Park Golf Course from October8-11, 2009.

"I can''t tell you how excited I was when Fred called," saidHaas, a nine-time PGA Tour winner. "It''s an honor and a hugethrill for me to be part of the 2009 Presidents Cup, and I lookforward to it with great anticipation.

"It will be fun just being around the best players in the world.I hope to learn more about my assistant captaincy from myfellow Champions Tour player, Jeff Sluman, who was so successfulin the same role with our most recent captain, Jack Nicklaus."