Chattanooga's Stephan Jaeger is tied for second entering Sunday's final round of the Sony Open
photo by Paul Payne
Last year was a breakout year for Stephan Jaeger on the PGA Tour, and he was hoping to carry that momentum into 2025.
The former Baylor School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer who still calls the Scenic City home collected his first PGA Tour win last year along with a runner-up finish and competed in the Paris Olympics for his native homeland of Germany.
The 35-year-old closed last year 43rd on the FedEx Cup points list, earning $4.732,554 with a total of four top 10 finishes. After bouncing between the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA Tour for several years since turning professional in 2012, Jaeger had finally secured status into all of the Signature Events for this season and the luxury of planning his competitive schedule for 2025.
After finishing tied for 36th in last week’s season-opening event at The Sentry at Kapalua on Maui, Jaeger is in prime position to chase down his second Tour win at the Sony Open in Honolulu. Jaeger fired an 8-under par 62 with nine birdies in Saturday’s third round, climbing 40 spots on the leaderboard to finish the day one shot off the lead at 12-under 198.
Starting on back nine at Waialae Country Club, Jaeger made the turn in 32 with four birdies and a bogey. He played the front side in 30 with five birdies – including his final two holes – along with four pars to join Eric Cole and Patrick Fishburn at 12-under, one shot back of J.J. Spaun’s 13-under 197.
“It was a combination of a good putter and some nice breaks,” Jaeger said via text message when asked about his impressive round.
He led the field in feet of putts made on Saturday with 139 feet, including a bomb from just under 58 feet on No. 8. He also had a kick-in birdie from 23-inches on No. 3 as his iron-game was dialed in to rank first among contestants in short game total.
With another win within his grasp to start the 2025 campaign, Jaeger is confident entering Sunday’s final round.
“It validates all the hard work I’ve put in for sure,” Jaeger said. “My approach won’t change, though. It will be the same as early on by being aggressive and take it where it ends up.”
Jaeger opened with consecutive rounds of 68 on the 7,044-yard par 70 layout before posting the low round of the tournament with Saturday’s 62.
Among the other former Baylor stars in the field, Keith Mitchell is tied for 56th at 4-under 206, Luke List is tied for 71st at 1-under 209 and Harris English failed to make the cut after shooting 1-over 141 through two rounds.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com