Sometimes the secret to winning a golf tournament is being in the right place at the right time.
Stephan Jaeger put himself in position at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, and when no one else could seize the moment – including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler – Jaeger emerged with his first PGA Tour victory in his 135th career start. He also earns a place in the Masters.
Leading six players by one stroke as he played the 72nd hole, Jaeger made his ninth straight par on the closing nine at Memorial Park and then watched as Scheffler missed a 6-foot birdie putt that would have forced a playoff and given him a chance to pick up his third consecutive win.
“He’s been playing unbelievable golf … and he’s such a great dude,” Jaeger said of Scheffler.
“It was such a blast to kind of fight with him. You just know he’s going to have some good stuff. I just tried to stay within myself and make some good putts. Birdies kind of eluded me on the back nine. I’m super happy with today.”
Jaeger shot 3-under 67 and finished at 12-under-par 268, one better than Scheffler, Alejandro Tosti, Thomas Detry, Taylor Moore and defending champion Tony Finau.
Jaeger earned $1.368 million from the $9.1 million purse in addition to his first trip to Augusta.
Before Houston, Jaeger had just six top-10s in his PGA Tour career, and the highlight of his professional career may have been shooting 58 on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2016.
Two years ago, Jaeger decided to transform his game after fighting a losing battle off the tee. He was quoted saying, “I was pretty much the worst driver on tour.”
He may have been.
In the 2021-22 season, Jaeger ranked 188th in total driving and had one of slowest clubhead speeds on tour. Determined to get longer and better off the tee, he went to work with PGA Tour fitness trainer Mike Carroll and he has steadily increased his swing speed.
He improved to 63rd in total driving last year and ranked sixth when he arrived in Houston.
Jaeger, 34, moved to the United States from Germany when he was 17, and he was a high school teammate of Keith Mitchell and Harris English at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He stayed in the Scenic City for college at UT-Chattanooga, where he won four times, including the 2012 Southern Conference Championship and an NCAA regional.
While other players were left with missed opportunities to lament, none may have cut as deeply as Scheffler’s.
On the 18th hole of the second round, Scheffler three-putted from 6 feet for a double bogey to end his streak of consecutive sub-par rounds at 28.
On the 72nd hole, Scheffler’s 6-footer to force a playoff missed on the left edge.
“Another good week. I gave myself a chance to win the tournament. That’s where I want to be at the beginning of the week,” Scheffler said.
“[Sunday] was fun. Obviously, I wish it would have ended a little differently, but I hit what I felt like were a lot of good putts there toward the end; just couldn’t get one to go in.”
Ron Green Jr.