Stephan Jaeger claimed his first career triumph on the PGA TOUR after edging out Scottie Scheffler at the Houston Open.
The 34-year-old German, whose previous victories had come in the Korn Ferry Tour, entered the final round in a five-way tie for the lead but hit a three-under 67 that featured four birdies on the front nine and nine pars on the back nine to end the tournament on 12 under and top the leaderboard with a one-shot victory.
The World No. 1 had the chance to force a play-off after Jaeger missed a 20-foot birdie at the 18th but narrowly missed spurned his chance.
“He [Scheffler] has been playing some unbelievable golf,” Jaeger said. “I played the Arnold Palmer and The Players with him and he’s such a great dude as well.
“It was such a blast the last couple of days to kind of fight with him and you just know he’s going to have some good stuff.
“I just tried to stay within myself, tried to make some birdies. Birdies kind of eluded me on the back nine there but this golf course plays a little difficult especially if you’re right around the lead.
“There’s so much trouble and I’m super happy obviously with the day.”
“I didn’t think it was going to move very much and I tried to hit it straight and I feel like I started right in the middle and looked like it broke off pretty hard, so just a misread,” Scheffler said when asked about the opportunity at the 18th.
“I put up a good fight, felt like I had some weird breaks this week. I hit two really good shots into 18 to give myself a chance and I feel like I made the putt and I looked up and it was breaking off.
“So a bit disappointing, but Stephan played great this week and he’s a deserving champion.”
Scheffler and defending champion Tony Finau were two of the five players that tied for second on 11 under which also included Argentina’s Alejandro Tosti, Belgium’s Thomas Detry, and America’s Taylor Moore.
The next event on the PGA TOUR Schedule is Valero Texas Open taking place between 4-7 April at TPC San Antonio in Texas.
