Germany’s Stephan Jaeger rolled in a 35-foot eagle putt from the fringe at his final hole on Thursday to seize a one-stroke lead over Nicolai Hojgaard after the second round of the US PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Jaeger carded an eight-under par 64 on the North Course, one of two in use over the first two days of the tournament, for a 12-under par total of 132.
He snatched the solo lead with his eagle bomb at the par-five ninth hole — his last — moments after Hojgaard completed a bogey-free six-under par 66 on the North Course for an 11-under total of 133.
“I hit a good drive,” Jaeger said. “It was a little into the wind today, so we had 260, 270 pin. I kind of tugged it a little bit. I wanted it kind of go middle of the green and I went right at it, ended up landing just short of the pin and scooting kind of (to the) back fringe.
“Had a little downhill right-to-lefter about 35 feet and it ended up curling in. It was awesome to see that. Finishing like that, it was exciting.”
Jaeger, 34 and ranked 101st in the world, is chasing his first US PGA Tour title.
He opened with back-to-back birdies at the 10th and 11th and strung together three more at 15, 16 and 17.
He followed his lone bogey of the day at the first with birdies at the third and eighth before his bravura finish and was looking forward to being in the hunt over the final two rounds on the challenging South Course, the two-time US Open venue.
“I’ve won a few times on the Korn Ferry, but to be able to be out here on the weekend with the cameras on and play in front of the guys, last couple groups is awesome,” Jaeger said.
Hojgaard had opened with a strong five-under effort on the South Course on Wednesday and followed that up with another solid effort.
He climbed the leaderboard with four straight birdies from the fourth through the seventh and added two more birdies at 13 and 16.
Matsuyama ace
Although playing the South Course first may have taken some pressure off, he said the North layout was still plenty challenging.
“There’s still thick rough around North Course, you’ve still got to hit the shots out there,” he said. “I don’t feel like it’s that easy. I’ve played some really good golf these two days so it kind of felt stress free, but I can see that you can get in trouble on both courses.”
Two more Europeans, Belgian Thomas Detry and France’s Matthieu Pavon, shared third on 134, Pavon posting an impressive seven-under 65 on the South Course where Detry carded a four-under 68.
“A pretty good round overall, very solid off the tee,” said Pavon, who had eight birdies and one bogey. “Didn’t catch much rough the last two days, that was key. And then the putter was on fire, which is funny.
“I really missed short ones … but dropped some big bombs and keep the momentum going.”
Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama had a rollercoaster of a day on the South Course, where he carded his first hole-in-one on tour at the par-three eighth but also had four bogeys in his one-under 71 that left him five adrift.
