Refreshed Hahn ready

Bryce Alderton

He might be 3,000 miles away from Newport Beach Country Club, but

people recognize Paul Hahn as he walks the grounds of Laurel Valley

Country Club this week.

The course, located in Ligonier, Pa., is hosting the 66th Senior

PGA Championship, which begins today and features notables like Hale

Irwin, Craig Stadler, Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen, and players like

Hahn, embarking on a dream.

For Hahn, 51, the Newport Beach Country Club head pro, the dream

happened fairly rapidly.

It began May 12 when Hahn received a package on his front

doorstep. The letter inside said he was an alternate into the field

after placing on the PGA Champions Tour money list in 2004 by virtue

of his Toshiba Senior Classic finish -- Hahn also competed in this

year’s Toshiba, held each March at Newport Beach Country Club.

At the time, Hahn was ninth alternate, but through exemptions and

withdrawals, he vaulted into the 156-player field within 10 days and

will make his first appearance in a major championship.

The top 70 and ties after the second round will play the weekend.

Hahn received a phone call from PGA of America official Susan

Martin Sunday night after landing in Pittsburgh with the news he was

in the field. D.A. Weibring’s victory at the Bruno’s Memorial Classic

last weekend left a spot open for Hahn. Weibring was already exempt

into the Senior PGA field prior to his most recent victory.

It didn’t take long after arriving in Pittsburgh for Hahn to taste

a bit of royalty.

The PGA of America had arranged for a courtesy car.

“That saved me $500,” Hahn quipped.

Intermittent rain splattered the course at the start of the week.

Hahn said he played five holes by himself on Monday, but managed a

full 18 on Tuesday alongside with Peter Jacobsen, D.A. Weibring and

Mark Lye, a college teammate of Hahn’s at San Jose State.

Hahn said he’s known Jacobsen and Lye since college -- Jacobsen

played at Oregon -- and said the pairing eased whatever tensions or

anxieties could have sprouted.

But Hahn said there’s little room for worry when there is so much

to absorb.

“I’m cherishing every minute,” Hahn said. “This is the best course

I’ve played in a long time.”

The stellar course conditions, on Tuesday anyway, seemed to bring

out a resurgence in Hahn’s game.

Hahn, who has played sparingly since the Toshiba Senior Classic,

carded a 1-under-par 71 Tuesday -- he shot 2-under on the back nine.

On two of the final three holes, the par-4 16th and par-5 18th,

Hahn’s drives measured 305 and 310 yards.

“That’s not like me,” he said. “Something inside me really feels

calm and good about what I am doing.

“I don’t know what has happened to my game, but ever since I’ve

been here, my swing is ... unbelievable. It feels really good.”

Paul Buchanan, a former tour player who is now the western

regional director for a club-fitting company, is caddying for Hahn.

The two have become friends through the years.

The reception from Champions Tour pros and others this week has

also been a pleasant surprise.

“It’s amazing people recognize me,” Hahn said. “They call me Paul,

not, ‘Hey pro,’ so that is nice.”

It all begins 10 a.m. Pacific time Thursday, when Hahn tees off in

a grouping with James Mason of Dillard, Ga., and Tomori Katsuyoshi of

Japan.