This past weekend's relocated Wells Fargo Championship will mostly be remembered for cold temperatures, steady rain and howling winds that made for a miserable landscape in Potomac, Maryland.
For former Baylor School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout Stephan Jaeger, it was a gorgeous experience that yielded the first top-10 showing of his PGA Tour career.
Jaeger shot a bogey-free 66 Sunday afternoon to turn a 1-over through three rounds to a 3-under 277 that resulted in a tie for sixth and his biggest professional windfall of $303,750. The 32-year-old made 15 of 18 greens in regulation on the tournament's final day and did not miss a putt within 10 feet.
"Sometimes you had to laugh about how miserable it was, but we got through it," Jaeger said during the Wells Fargo interview session afterward. "I thought I played pretty good over the two days (Friday and Saturday), because they were pretty bad. Today was a little windy, but it wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be, so that was nice."
The best PGA Tour finish for the six-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour was also accompanied by 92 FedEx Cup points, which moved him from 153rd in the standings to 121st. The 5-foot-9, 170-pounder has never been this high in the standings this deep into a season, and he would qualify for the year-ending FedEx Cup playoffs if the season ended today.
BAYLOR LEADERBOARD
With Stephan Jaeger having tied for sixth at the Wells Fargo Championship this past weekend, here is the updated career top-10 finish count among the four Baylor School alums currently on the PGA Tour: Harris English (38) Luke List (23) Keith Mitchell (16) Stephan Jaeger (1) Source: PGA Tour
Raking in the $303,750 has given Jaeger a season total of $666,463, which tops his previous PGA Tour best of $623,145 in 2018-19.
"I'm super happy," Jaeger said.
The previous top paydays for the German-born Jaeger were $133,125 for a tie for 13th at the 2018 Quicken Loans National and $125,400 for a tie for 14th at the 2019 RBC Canadian.
Jaeger, along with fellow Baylor alums Luke List and Keith Mitchell, will be competing this week at the AT&T Byron Nelson Classic on the outskirts of Dallas. The week before the Wells Fargo Championship, which was moved from Quail Hollow in Charlotte since that venue is hosting the Presidents Cup in September, Jaeger tied for 15th at the Mexico Open and earned $104,187.
This would certainly qualify as an upward trajectory for Jaeger, who played the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons on the Korn Ferry, and only time will tell whether Sunday's 66 will represent his most lucrative round or serve as a launching point for even better days ahead.
"I actually ball-striked it really well - a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and then a couple I missed late I got up and down," Jaeger said. "I'm really happy with the round, obviously. Shooting 66 on Sunday is always a good thing."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@ timesfreepress.com.