Houston Open champion Stephan Jaeger opens up on his introduction to golf as a kid in Germany - “I got in decently late, I was probably 9 or 10”

Stephan Jaeger won the 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open on March 31. Jaeger's first PGA Tour win came in the 135th attempt. Amidst the heightened tension of a five-way deadlock, Jaeger notched four birdies and a solitary bogey on the front nine. He went on to string together nine consecutive pars in the latter stage of the round, culminating in a 3-under 67.

Along with the Masters, Stephan Jaeger has secured participation in the remaining quartet of $20 million signature events, slated for the ongoing season.

There has been a lot of curiosity on how Stephan Jaeger started his golf journey. The German has opened up about how his initial love for golf began. Jaeger said that golf was like any other sport to him when he was growing up.

Jaeger recalled that during his childhood, his family lived near a golf course in Germany. He mentioned that, as a kid, he used to play all kinds of sports, especially soccer and hockey. He told the media:

"So golf kind of got in, I got in I would say decently late I was probably 9 or 10. My parents always played golf on vacation. My sister was a good golfer and she was a lot older than me."

Jaeger said that when he was around six or seven years old, one of his favorite pastimes was to ride a golf cart.

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Stephan Jaeger shifted to the USA at the age of 16 to pursue his passion, golf

Stephan Jaeger was tied with Alejandro Tosti, Stephan Jaeger, Thomas Detry, and Taylor Moore on the final day of the tournament, a record on the tour since 2009.

He shared more about his golf journey in the press conference after winning the PGA Tour event. He said that after seeing his family in golf, he was interested and wanted to try the sport. The German enrolled in a junior program at the local club:

"And kind of got better fast and people were like this kid's got some talent. And I loved being out there, back then we didn't practice much it was just more spending time and playing golf and that kind of started the love for golf."

He said his love for golf made him shift to the USA at the age of 16 where he played on the high school golf team.

Jaeger got the better of world number one, Scottie Scheffler at Houston. Scheffler was looking to win three consecutive titles in the PGA Tour. However, the American missed the five-foot putt to force a playoff and finished second in the tournament. Jaeger, when asked about Scheffler missing the five-foot putt, said:

"I expected him to make it, and I’m not mad at him for missing it."

Scheffler had won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship back-to-back before this tournament.

Jaeger also talked about playing along with the Scheffler and appreciated the world number one. He said:

"I couldn't have dreamed up a better week. Playing Scottie last couple days, he's been on a tear, so to kind of slay the dragon a little bit this week was amazing. He’s such a good dude, such a good player, I was just happy to play with him a couple days."

Stephan Jaeger won a total of $1,680,000 after his victory at the Texas Children's Houston Open.