Stephan Jäger impresses with a superb 65 in the top 5 at the Farmers Insurance Open of the PGA Tour. Brooks Koepka faces challenges in his return.
Stephan Jäger had an excellent start to the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday of the PGA Tour. With a round of 65, he landed tied for 5th and is close to the top leaderboard. Other German players had a tougher time. Thomas Rosenmüller posted a 2-under-par round tied for 55th, ahead of Jeremy Paul who sits at even par tied for 87th, and Matti Schmid who played one over par and will enter the second round tied for 101st. LIV Golf returnee Brooks Koepka struggled in his first tournament back on the American Tour, sharing the 101st position with Schmid at 1 over par. Leading after the first day is Justin Rose with 10 under par.
PGA Tour: Stephan Jäger Nearly Flawless
Stephan Jäger had his best start in a while at the opening of the Farmers Insurance Open at the Torrey Pines Golf Course North Course in San Diego. He delivered an almost flawless round, with the only issue at the start: his second shot on the first hole landed in the bunker near the green, and he failed to get up and down, resulting in a bogey to begin the day. However, Jäger was not discouraged. On hole 3, he reset with a strong tee shot on the 150-meter par 3 which set up a birdie. A strong middle stretch, especially holes 7 to 9, yielded three consecutive birdies, putting him at 3 under par after the front nine. His birdie on hole 8 was a highlight, as after landing in a bunker near the green, he executed an excellent sand shot that rolled into the hole. He carried this momentum onto the back nine starting with two birdies and added two more at holes 16 and 17, finishing his round at 7 under par and tying for 5th place going into the week.
Thomas Rosenmüller had a steadier round, also starting with a bogey, but a birdie on hole 9 had him even par after the front nine. He added birdies on holes 11 and 17 to card a 70 and sit tied for 55th.
Jeremy Paul began on the back nine but was hampered by his front nine with three unanswered bogeys on holes 2, 4, and 6 after three birdies and a bogey, ultimately finishing at even par tied for 87th.
Matti Schmid started on the back nine and, despite birdies on holes 10,