After the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course on Thursday, Stephan Jaeger of Germany recorded an 8-under 64 and took a one-shot lead over Nicolai Højgaard of Denmark with a 35-foot eagle putt on his final hole.
Halfway through the competition, Jaeger was at 12-under on the Pacific Oceanfront Blufftop layout. Starting on the softer North Course, he moved up to the top of the packed leaderboard by using his eagle to overtake Højgaard on the 9th par-5.
Jaeger, who made only 1 bogey and birdied 5 of his first 8 holes, said, “Finishing like that, yeah, it was exciting.”
On his final hole, he claimed to have struck a solid drive into the wind before slightly tugging his approach shot.
“I went straight for it because I wanted it to sort of go in the middle of the green. In the end, it landed a little short of the pin and scooted backward. It ended up curving in after a brief 35-foot right-to-left descent. It was amazing to witness.” he said.
On Wednesday, Jaeger fired a 68 on the South Course. He claimed that given the remaining two rounds would take place on the South Course, his strong showing on Thursday did not provide him much momentum.
“But creating eagles and birds is always enjoyable. You cannot be deprived of those. I can’t wait to play the South Course for the next two days. I adore this location. This is probably one of my favorite tournaments every year.” remarked 32-year-old Jaeger who has been on the TOUR since 2018 and is still chasing his first victory.
Højgaard stood at 11-under after shooting a bogey-free 66 on the North Course. Following their rounds on the South Course, Belgian Thomas Detry and Frenchman Matthieu Pavon were at 10-under. Detry had 2 bogeys in his last 4 holes for a 68, while Pavon shot a steady 65 with just 1 bogey.
Højgaard, 22, arrived from Dubai on Monday and is seeing Torrey Pines for the first time. In the opening round, he fired a 67 on the South Course. On Tuesday, he played the back nine of the North Course as part of his practice round.
“It seems like two days in a row. I had a great round of golf today, scrambled rather well when I was out of position and concluded with a beautiful par. I think the driving has been quite good. Even though I still missed a couple of fairways on the scoring par 5s, I was still really happy with the game overall.” he said.
Michael Kim (68, South Course) and Tony Finau (66, North Course) both had 9-under scores. After playing the South Course, Aaron Rai (70), Emiliano Grillo (69), and Joseph Bramlett (66) were all tied for 8th place.
After shooting 68 on the North Course, San Diegan’s Xander Schauffele, who is ranked No. 5 in the world, was in a group of 13 at 7 under.
Kevin Yu, the leader of the first round, lost steam on the South Course after shooting 74. At the South Course, world No. 6 Patrick Cantlay also had a difficult day, finishing with a 73. They are both 6 under.
The world’s 7th-ranked player, and defending champion Max Homa, shot a 70 on the North Course to finish at 4 under. During his round of 71, Hideki Matsuyama made his first hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR on the eighth par-3 of the South Course.
