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 GREENSBORO -- Bill Haas has been going through clubs the way Al Davis goes through head coaches, but the former Wake Forest golfer admits his personal motto isn't as cutthroat as the Oakland Raiders' directive about winning.

"Any time you can make the cut is good," Haas said after qualifying for the weekend in consecutive starts for the first time since January.

He did more than that Friday, posting the lowest opening 18 holes in Sedgefield Country Club's PGA Tour history and following that with a 69 in the afternoon to hit the Wyndham Championship's halfway point at 9-under. And until proven otherwise, he says it's directly traceable to his third set of irons this year.

"I guess I'm not in love with anything," Haas said. "I've missed 11 cuts this year. If somebody sends me a new, pretty set of irons, I'm going to use them. These were a little shinier. I played a decent amount with them at home (in Greenville, S.C.) and played really well."

Haas, 27 and in his fourth year of full-time PGA Tour membership, is exaggerating slightly. He's under contract with Titleist and isn't entertaining offers from other manufacturers. When he gets a hankering for a switch, he calls his equipment representative and the new sticks show up.

At least for now, it all feels good and the distractions are minimal.

"The putter feels good," he said. "When I (stand) over a 10-footer, I feel I can make it, which is a big change for me. When you have that kind of confidence, everything else is freed up."

He entered the week secure with a spot in the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, thanks to a disproportionate six solid showings in his 22 starts. But the All-American and four-time All-ACC performer, the most recent member of a distinguished family line, admitted it's reasonable for fans to expect a breakthrough at some point.

Haas, a winner of 10 tournaments at Wake, is seeking his first tour victory in this, his 133rd career appearance. His closest call came in this year's Texas Open, in which he tied for third.

"I assumed I could have won by now," he said. "I could have won by now. I felt I had the game to do so.

"I've been humbled a ton. I've lost a little of the confidence I had in college. It was easy to win in college, and then you get out here where everybody was a dominating college player. All of a sudden I became pretty average. And that's what I've been for four years: average. I'm working hard and trying to take it to the next level."

His Friday began with a 5 a.m. wake-up call necessitated by Thursday's rain, which prevented many golfers from getting in a full 18 holes. Haas played the final eight holes of the first round in 5-under, and that included a bogey. His score of 62 tied the lowest first-round score in tournament history. (Charles Warren began the 2004 event, then known as the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro, with a 62 at Forest Oaks Country Club.)

The afternoon wasn't quite as kind to Haas, but he took the 69 without much complaint after a pair of birdies down the stretch left him in a second-place tie at the end of his 26-hole day. Still, he knew there was considerable work left.

"If the weather stays like this," he said, "I don't think 18-under saves you."