Stephan Jaeger was ‘just happy’ to play with Scottie Scheffler at the Houston Open - “To slay the dragon a little bit was amazing”
Stephan Jaegar closed with nine straight pars and carded a 3-under 67 to claim his maiden PGA Tour title in his 135th attempt. The golfer beat several pros seeking their first Tour title along with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at Memorial Park Golf Course.
Notably, Scheffler was en route to win his third straight event on the PGA Tour. If he’d won on Sunday, the 27-year-old would’ve become the first player since Dustin Johnson in 2017 to complete the three-peat. However, Jaeger denied the record and registered his maiden win at the Houston Open.
He addressed the big move of beating Scheffler on Sunday and said it felt “amazing” to “slay the dragon.”
Speaking in his post-round Houston Open press conference, Stephan Jaeger said (at 0:10):
"It feels amazing (to win). I couldn't have dreamed of a better week to do it. Obviously, playing Scottie last couple days, he's been on a tear. So, to kind of slay the dragon a little bit this week was amazing. He's such a good dude, such a good player, I was just happy to play with him a couple days."
Interestingly, Jaeger also admitted that he wasn’t keeping track of Scheffler’s position on the leaderboard. The 34-year-old noted that he was just trying to do his best on the field. The champion golfer admitted that he wanted to beat the big names on Sunday but said he was constantly pulling his mind back into taking it slow.
Scottie Scheffler’s missed putt costs him the Houston Open
It is pertinent to note that Scheffler and Jaeger fought to the end of the final round on Sunday. Notably, the first-time victor had a chance to seal the Houston Open win with a 21-foot birdie putt at 18. He missed it, giving the World No. 1 golfer the advantage to secure the trophy. Shockingly, the ace golfer misread the putt, leading to Jaeger’s win.
Commenting on Scheffler’s missed putt, Jaeger said he was “one hundred per cent” sure the 2022 Masters champion would make it. The six-time Korn Ferry Tour winner jokingly said that he isn’t mad at Scheffler for missing the putt, which saw the latter share T2 with the likes of Tony Finau, Alejandro Tosti, Taylor Moore and Thomas Detry.
Jaeger had earlier admitted that beating Scheffler over a season-long race is 'nearly impossible'. However, the Houston Open winner has one up on the ace golfer and should be excited to take on more such fights in the coming weeks. Interestingly, the duo will meet again two weeks later at the Masters.