WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- While Jay Haas has good memories of his last visit to The Principal Charity Classic, where he won by three strokes over Brad Bryant and R.W. Eaks, he also has momentum on his side. Last week at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., Haas won the Senior PGA Championship -- the second time he's won that title.

In 2007 at Glen Oaks Country Club, Haas opened with a 6-under 65 to lead by a stroke. He widened the margin to three shots after 36 holes and maintained that advantage to win what was his ninth Champions Tour title. He has 11 overall victories since joining the Tour in 2004.

Gil Morgan, the 2006 winner of this event and a runner-up in 2001, leads all players in total earnings, with $491,665, just a shade ahead of Jim Thorpe, with $490,891. Thorpe was the 2001 champion and tied for second in 2003. Tom Jenkins (440,754), Bob Gilder ($438,457) and Bruce Lietzke ($390,100) are the others in the top five.

Mike Goodes earned a spot in this week's event after finishing fourth at the Regions Charity Classic near Birmingham, Ala., two weeks ago, automatically qualifying him for the next open event.

In its brief history, The Principal Charity Classic has seen its second-round leader enjoy great success, with five of seven second-round leaders/co-leaders going on to win. Jim Thorpe (2001), Don Pooley (2003), D.A. Weibring (2004), Gil Morgan (2006) and Jay Haas (2007) were 36-hole leaders who went on to victory. Bob Gilder (2002) and Tom Jenkins (2005) each came from two strokes off the pace Sunday to win.

The final two holes at the Glen Oaks Country Club proved difficult for the top-15 finishers last year. During the event, only two players in the top 15 made a birdie on No. 17 (Morris Hatalsky and Andy Bean, both in the second round) and only six of 15 made birdies on No. 18 in the tournament. Brad Bryant did it in the second and third rounds. The 17th hole was the most difficult in 2007, and No. 18 ranked second. During the 54-hole event, the top-15 players were 10-over par on No. 17, while the same players were 1-over par on No. 18

Five players over the age of 60 finished in the top 10 at last year's tournament. In addition to Jay Sigel (tied for fourth) and Hale Irwin (tied for seventh), Bruce Summerhays, Dave Stockton and Vicente Fernandez all tied for 10th.

This week's field includes five former winners of the John Deere Classic. D.A. Weibring, who won in Des Moines in 2004, is a three-time winner of the Quad Cities event (1979, 1991, 1995). He was also the runner-up in 1993. Dave Stockton (1974), Scott Hoch (1980 and 1984), Mark Wiebe (1986) and Joey Sindelar (1990) round out the list. Stockton's victory was a one-stroke margin over Bruce Fleisher, while Curtis Strange was runner-up to Hoch in 1980. Hoch also prevailed by five strokes over George Archer, Stockton and Vance Heafner in 1984.

With his 2006 victory, Gil Morgan became the oldest winner in tournament history at 59 years, 8 months, 12 days. D.A. Weibring became the event's youngest winner when he triumphed two days short of his 51st birthday in 2004.

A mere one point is all that separates Bernhard Langer and Jay Haas in the Charles Schwab Cup standings. Last week at the Senior PGA Championship, with double points available at the Champions Tour's first major of the season, Haas outdueled Langer for the title. In the process, he picked up 720 points, leaving him one behind Langer in the overall points chase. Langer has 1,413 points to Haas' 1,412. Scott Hoch is in third, 387 points behind Langer. Denis Watson and Tom Watson remained in the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. The next double-points event is the Senior British Open in late July.

Copyright 2008 PGA.com. All rights reserved.