Jaeger earns first PGA Tour victory, Korda collects third straight win | The Sunday Swing

The Sunday Swing
March 31st, 2024

Welcome back to the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week in the world of professional golf, the PGA Tour was in Houston for the Texas Children’s Houston Open, while the LPGA Tour was in the desert for the Ford Open in Arizona. It is worth noting that both tours featured their respective world #1’s looking to win their 3rd consecutive title in Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler. 

Texas Children’s Houston Open - Tournament History 

Originally played in 1946, the Houston Open had been played at numerous golf courses throughout its 78 year history. Since 2021, the tournament has been held at Memorial Park Golf Course, a local public course in Houston where residents can play for $30 during the week. The course underwent a 70 million dollar renovation in 2018, which was heavily influenced by Brooks Koepka. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the event was moved on the schedule from spring to fall and was then played in November the week before The Masters, which was also played in November that year. 

It was played in November through the 2022 before it was not played in 2023 due to some PGA Tour schedule changes. For the 2024 season, the event was moved back to the spring and will be played just two weeks before The Masters moving forward. Given the timing of the tournament, it gives players who have not yet qualified for Augusta a chance to do so with a win. Although not a signature event, it still holds plenty of significance for the lower ranked players who have yet to win or qualify for the remaining signature events and or majors. The previous five winners of this event are as follows: 

2024 - Stephan Jaeger (-12)
2022 - Tony Finau (-16)
2021 - Jason Kokrak (-10)
2020 - Carlos Ortiz (-13)
2019 - Lanto Griffin (-14) 

The Big Swing 

This week the big swing belongs to yet another first time winner on tour in Stephen Jaeger. The 34-year-old from Germany was able to break through in a competitive field that included the world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who was vying for a third consecutive title after back-to-back wins at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass. 

Jaeger also had to contend with defending champion Tony Finau, who fired a course-record 62 on Friday to take the outright lead after 36 holes. Jaeger opened with rounds of 69 and 66 to get himself in the mix, while Scheffler, to nobody’s surprise, was also playing well. He started out with 65 and 70, and was clearly a threat heading into the weekend. 

After an action packed Saturday, the leaderboard was clogged with 18 holes to go. Five players were tied for the lead: Scheffler, Jaeger, David Skinns, Thomas Detry, and Alejandro Tosti. Every player in that tie whose name isn’t Scheffler was searching for their first career PGA Tour victory. 

The leaderboard remained congested for most of the final round. Jaeger was able to start out hot and take solo possession of the lead after making birdies at Nos. 3 and 4. A bogey at the 7th briefly surrendered the lead, but the German backed it up with two more birdies at holes 8 and 9. 

For most of the afternoon, there were as many as 10 players within two shots of Jaeger’s 12-under lead. Finau and Scheffler were in that pack, many waiting for one of them to make the charge and challenge Jaeger’s lead. However, neither Finau nor Scheffler nor any of the chasers could muster the momentum necessary. Jaeger was able to maintain his lead by making all pars on the back nine. 

On the 72nd hole, Scheffler needed birdie to tie Jaeger and force a playoff. As we have witnessed so many times in the past couple years, Scheffler delivered a beautiful iron shot that stopped about five feet from the cup. After Jaeger 2-putted for his par from mid-range, Scheffler just had to kick in the short birdie and the playoff was on. However, his birdie bid missed on the low side, and Stephan Jaeger became the sixth first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season. 

Winner’s Bag - Stephan Jaeger

First-time winner and PING staffer Stephan Jaeger was able to hold off some big names on Sunday afternoon in Houston to claim his first title. His bag consists of a fairly good mix between Ping, Callaway, and Titleist. Starting at the top of the bag, Jaeger plays the new PING G430 LST driver (9 degrees). He plays two different branded fairway woods that include a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke 3-wood (15 degrees), and a PING G425 Max 7-wood (20.5 degrees). Unlike a lot of tour players, Jaeger plays one type of iron straight through the bag in the PING S55s (3-PW). Powering his wedge game is a trio of all new Titleist Vokey Design SM10 wedges (49, 53, and 57 degrees) at very unique lofts. On the greens, Jaeger rolls an Odyssey Ai-One 2-ball putter, the newest line from Odyssey. 

Key stats:
Strokes gained: off the tee- T37
Strokes gained: approach to green- 37th 
Strokes gained: around the green- 9th
Strokes gained: putting- 3rd 
Strokes gained: total- 1st 

In the World of Women’s Golf 

This week the LPGA Tour teed it up in Arizona for the playing of the Ford Championship. The field was stacked and featured players like Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson, Yuka Saso, and many more. 

Korda, like Scheffler, was seeking her third consecutive win on the LPGA Tour this week. After her win last week in LA, Korda reclaimed the world No. 1 position in the women’s game, but didn’t have much room for error if she wanted to keep that position. 

Despite solid rounds of 66, 68, and 69, Korda still found herself a couple shots back heading into the final round. Carlota Ciganda and Sarah Schmelzel headlined the final group on Sunday after each posting 15-under through three rounds. As difficult conditions rolled through Arizona over the weekend, the leaders were at a disadvantage on Sunday as conditions were better earlier in the day. 

After a mundane start, Korda caught fire and made her Sunday charge. After making par at the first four holes, she made birdies at Nos. 5, 6, and 9 to turn in 33. The back nine featured more of the same – she tacked on four more birdies without a single blemish on the scorecard. In the end, Korda would card a final-round bogey-free 65 (her lowest of the week) to lead by two.

The leaders were unable to get anything going in the chilly conditions, and Korda’s lead held for the remainder of the tournament, earning her yet another LPGA Tour victory. Considering the weather, this performance by Korda seems all the more impressive, and she has clearly ascended back to the top of the game after struggling for a while after she came off an injury last year.