EDITOR'S NOTE: Jay Haas (Stats | Bio) , a 28-year PGA Tour veteran, is compiling a daily diary on his experiences in the 68th Masters Tournament. Haas, 50, has three top-10 finishes this season on the PGA Tour and is 22nd on the money list. The Greenville, S.C., resident is sharing his thoughts with staff writer Chris Gay.

You know, 68 or 69 would've put me right there. I won't say I played well enough to do that, but I had some opportunities. I'm disappointed with a (bogey) 5 at the last hole. I hit a good drive there and just pushed my iron the slightest bit and went in the bunker. It was an elementary bunker shot and I just hit a poor shot.

It's disappointing. I hit the ball extremely well. I drove the ball really nicely. If you can drive the ball well here, you can give yourself opportunities.

Maybe my best round is my last round. Hopefully, I can go way low (today).

(Haas left a pair of birdie opportunities short at Nos. 8 and 9.) At 8, I was straight down the hill there and missed that putt. On No. 9, it was a big sweeper. Coming out of the fringe there, I didn't want to get too excited and run the thing six feet by.

A lot of these putts I leave short are not the kind of putts you make a run at. They're not birdie putts. If the greens were 9 or 10 (on the Stimpmeter), then maybe you could make a run at them. The way they're running now, you can't afford to run at them. I get defensive on the putts a little bit.

At 17, I was on the back fringe and I got a little aggressive. I ran it by about 3½ feet and had a downhill putt for par. That's kind of what you face out here if your pace isn't just absolutely perfect. Actually, my pace was pretty good today, but it was just a little off.

(Caddie and son Jay Jr. got a nosebleed during the round.) He gets that a little bit. He looks like he's been in a fight, but he hung in there. That used to happen to me when I was younger. He gets that from me. At the slightest bang, bump, whatever, he gets a nosebleed, and this one, with him huffing and puffing up the hills, it was pretty intense there for a while. He went through a couple of towels, but it looked worse than what it was.

(Haas played with Tiger Woods (Stats | Bio) (Stats | Bio) and beat the game's No. 1 player by three shots.) Usually if you can play with Tiger Woods (Stats | Bio) (Stats | Bio) on Saturday and come out on top, you're in pretty good shape. He wasn't sharp today. He struggled with his driver a little bit. He played the last four holes and just hit perfect shots. He hit on something on those last four. There's no telling what he may come out and do (today).

I've played 12 par-5s and birdied 50 percent of them. That's not a bad average. But I was hoping to be 10-under on them this week. I've got to get all of them (today).

I'm just trying to find some magic with my putting. I'm not that far off.

As we say, they have some tight rims out here. The ball doesn't go in that easily. I've just got to be a little sharper.

(Six-under) may be the number. Six might be good enough to win the golf tournament. That tells me right there what I need to do.