SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

September 29, 2022

Stephen Jaeger

Country Club of Jackson

Press Conference

Q. 3-under, 69. Nice start. If we can get some comments on your round.

STEPHEN JAEGER: I started off hot. It was kind of windy and cold this morning. I rolled some putts in and hit it really good early. Stalled a little bit there in the middle. Made a double and a bogey kind of in a row and kind of put the brakes on.

You know, played solid on the back. I think I hit the last six or seven fairways, which is pretty much key out here. You don't hit the fairways here, you're pretty much scrambling every hole. So, I did a good job there.

Always left some out there, but I'm super happy with the game.

Q. You mentioned the four birdies in your first five holes, so excellent start. Then, take us through the double, if you can.

STEPHEN JAEGER: 6 is a really hard hole. It was kind of in off the left, and I just kind of heeled, cut it one to the right. Had to lay up and hit the wedge 20-feet and 3-putted. Pretty simple 6, honestly.

Yeah, it kind of happens sometimes out here, but I'm happy with the comeback on the back.

Q. How did you spend last week kind of? Did you practice much, or did you kind of unplug?

STEPHEN JAEGER: Weird question from you, Kevy. I had a bachelor party Wednesday, Thursday. My good buddy, J.T. Poston, we sent him off to get married here in a couple of months.

Other than that, I tried to recover from that and did a little bit of practicing on the weekends. Yeah, I mean, listen, I like this golf course. I like where my swing is at. My coach, Josh, was here, so we did some good work yesterday.

Yeah, just kind of trying to keep it in front of you on the fairways. These greens are fast. You've got to put it in the right spot to make birdies for sure.

Q. What type of work did you do? What's the genesis of what you dialed in?

STEPHEN JAEGER: Just the same stuff. If I get a little lazy and don't do much at home, I tend to kind of fall into old stuff. We just kind of cleaned it up a little bit.

Still not quite where I want it, but you know, it's always a work in progress. So I'm happy with my short game and putting, and we'll see what we have for the next three days.

Q. Do you feel any different as a PGA TOUR member having kept your card for a year as opposed to playing out of that Korn Ferry Tour category?

STEPHEN JAEGER: Well, it gives me confidence kind of proving to myself that I can do it. Obviously, last year for me was I had a great finish of the year. The last two months were great. Other than that, it really wasn't that good.

I took a lot of confidence from that saying, hey, we just have to get more consistent, better on that, give yourself a lot more options or a lot more opportunities on the weekend to play up there and maybe win an event. That's my main goal for this year.

Q. Kind of week-to-week preparation this time of the year, in terms of finding motivation, what do you do to kind of draw that motivation week to week?

STEPHEN JAEGER: Motivation, if you're not motivated on a new year, man, I think you're doing something wrong.

I was super excited. I had four weeks off. I was excited to get going again and get playing. I love this fall. I'm just ready to go. A couple of events I've never played in before, so I'm super excited about those.

But, yeah, I mean, I'm motivated every year. Especially in the near year for sure.