Chattanooga's Stephan Jaeger finished tied for 3rd at Sony Open
photo by PGA Tour
Entering Sunday’s final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii one shot off the lead, Stephan Jaeger did not plan on altering his aggressive approach from the first three days. It was all gas and no brakes for the Chattanooga resident in pursuit of his second PGA Tour victory.
But over his final nine holes, the former Baylor School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout was victimized by an errant driver. After grabbing a share of the lead with four holes to play, Jaeger’s yanked his tee shot out of bounds on No. 16 led to a bogey, and he was unable to birdie either of the final two holes to miss a playoff, finishing tied for third.
Jaeger’s final round of 3-under 67 left him at 15-under 265, the third time he has earned a third-place finish to go along with his initial win in last year’s Texas Children’s Houston Open and a runner-up showing in the Black Desert Championship. He earned $513,000 for the week.
Jaeger had birdies on Nos. 5, 6 and 8 to make the turn in 3-under 32 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, moving to 15-under to remain one back of third-round leader J.J. Spaun. He moved into a tie atop the leaderboard at 16-under with a 30-foot birdie on 14, then lipped out a birdie try on the next hole from 15-feet for the outright lead.
The decisive swing occurred at the dogleg left 16th where Jaeger’s tee shot landed out of bounds to the left and was never found. He managed to salvage a bogey with his provisional ball by rolling in an 18-footer, but found himself one back of Spaun’s 16-under.
“The one on 16 I would like to have back. Wrong hole to hit that shot,” Jaeger said.
Jaeger successfully hit his first six fairways, but then encountered trouble with his driver. He found the short grass only once on his final eight tries – that happening at No. 15 with an iron from the tee - with all of his misses being pulls to the left.
Meanwhile, Nick Taylor chipped in for eagle behind the green on 18 to move into a tie with Spaun, and Nico Echavarria birdied 16 and 18 to also sign for a score of 16-under two groups ahead of Jaeger and Spaun.
Spaun fell out of the lead with a bogey at the par-3 17th while Jaeger managed a two-putt par after his 30-foot birdie try finished nine inches short.
Having birdied the No. 18 the previous two days, Jaeger chose a fairway metal from the tee but failed to carry the bunker in the corner of the dogleg. His second shot from 235 yards clipped the lip of the fairway bunker, traveling only 78 yards. After his third shot bounced over the green from 178 yards, Jaeger was unable to convert his birdie chip shot from 49 feet, eventually settling for par.
Spaun missed his birdie try on 18, and Taylor eventually won with a birdie on the second playoff hole to defeat Echavarria.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com