WEST DES MOINES, Iowa &mdash Iowa has been good to Jay Haas.
So good, in fact, that the organizers of this year’s Principal Charity Classic have celebrated his return with a Jay Haas bobblehead. The likeness of Haas, free to the first 1,500 fans who show up Friday, features the striped blue shirt, khaki pants and white hat he wore during last year’s final round, when he had four birdies on back nine for his second straight win at Glen Oaks Country Club. The only problem for Haas is that it also has grey eyebrows and a full head of grey hair poking out of that cap. “I’m not that grey,” Haas said. Haas, who for the record has but a few flecks of grey mixed in a tightly cropped head of dark hair, can become just the sixth Champions Tour player to win the same tournament at least three straight times with a victory this weekend. Hale Irwin last pulled off the feat when he won his fifth consecutive Turtle Bay Championship crown in 2005. Haas cruised to his first Principal Charity Classic victory in 2007, shooting a 12-under 201 total to win by three strokes. Last year he trailed second-round leader Nick Price by three shots entering the back nine.
He nailed birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 16 and made par on the last two holes, traditionally among the toughest at Glen Oaks, to win by one shot over Andy Bean and two over Price.