When Stephan Jaeger held off Scottie Scheffler last March to triumph at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, it allowed Jaeger to join fellow Baylor School golfing alums Harris English, Luke List and Keith Mitchell as winners on the PGA Tour.
English and List have won multiple times at the highest level, and Jaeger had the opportunity for his second tour victory during Sunday’s final round of the Sony Open in Honolulu. He arrived at the 16th hole with a share of the lead but could not close out his stellar four-day performance, finishing a stroke back and in a tie for third.
“The game feels nice,” Jaeger said Sunday night in a news conference. “I’ve just got to make a little bit of an adjustment on my driving, which is one of my strengths. I think it’s probably going to be a little setup change, and I should be OK.
“I putted great the last two days and kind of kept myself in it that way. I wish I had a few of them back, but you can’t make all of them. I’m super happy with my game.”
Sunday became another milestone for those who once competed under the late King Oehmig, as each has now surpassed $10 million in PGA Tour career earnings, with Jaeger’s latest prize money of $513,000 giving the German-born former UTC standout $10,273,386. According to pgatour.com, that ranks one position ahead of John Daly, the 1991 PGA Championship winner and the 1995 British Open champ who made $10.27 million in his career.
Jaeger has earned $4.46 million since the start of 2024, so he is on track to move past the legendary likes of Bernard Langer ($10.76 million), Tom Watson ($11.08 million) and Greg Norman ($14.84 million) much sooner than later.
Tiger Woods tops the PGA Tour’s all-time money list with $120,999,166, with Rory McIlroy ranking second ($90,989,348) and Scheffler third ($71,793,586). Scheffler earned $29,228,357 last year alone, when he won seven official times, including at the Masters, The Players and the Tour Championship.
Although they have been very appreciative of the attention and enhanced revenue Woods brought to their sport, Baylor’s most notable golfers have never claimed to be motivated by money. Mitchell reflected that after his 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole turned back Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler at the 2019 Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
“The feeling from the time the ball went in the hole to when I got the ball out of the hole is what it’s all worth,” Mitchell told the Times Free Press. “It’s not about the money. It’s not about the fame. It’s about that feeling of accomplishment.
“Those 15 seconds are just something I can’t describe.”
English, who has four PGA Tour wins and was a member of the United States Ryder Cup team in 2021, has amassed $31,422,313 in his career, with two-time winning List at $17,336,879. Mitchell has earned $15,267,685.
Simply reaching $10 million puts the former Red Raiders well past yesteryear stars such as Curtis Strange ($7.60 million), Jack Nicklaus ($5.73 million), Lee Trevino ($3.48 million) and Gary Player ($1.83 million).
The Chattanoogan with the highest-ever finish at the Masters, 1980 runner-up Gibby Gilbert II, made $1,056,506 during his career on the PGA Tour. Gilbert received $30,500 for his second-place showing at Augusta National, a far cry from the $2.16 million Ludvig Aberg earned last April for finishing runner-up to Scheffler.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.