JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 2, 2026

Stephan Jaeger

TPC Deere Run

Quick Quotes

Q. Great round today. Can you take us through it?

STEPHAN JAEGER: Yeah, solid. I kept the ball kind of in front of me. Made some nice up-and-downs on the front nine, kept my score going. Had a couple of shots close on the back, made a couple of birdies. Yeah, solid round, for sure.

Q. Can you take us through No. 4 and what you saw out there on the new design?

STEPHAN JAEGER: You know, I think it definitely handcuffs you a little bit off the tee. I don't think anybody on tour with this wind can carry that right bunker. I think it was 330 or 340 a little into the right. So it kind of handcuffs you to hit it to the left.

You know, shorter guys obviously probably laid short of that bunker. I hit it in the right bunker today. It was fine. The bunkers aren't as penal as some out there, so you know, you can kind of free-wheel it a little bit. The bunkers are playable. They're not super steep. They're not big lips.

I had a lie today, so it was fine. But, yeah, it's a different hole. Like I said, you use the driver with the right wind, you could have 80 yards in. I had 170. So it definitely plays different.

Downwind it will probably still be shorter, but it's still going to be a hard carry on that right side, for sure.

Q. You birdied four out of five holes to start. What clicked for you during that stretch that kind of set the momentum for your round?

STEPHAN JAEGER: Yeah, I had a nice little wedge on 1. Ended up making, like, a 6- or 7-footer. 2, if you hit in the fairway, it's reachable. I hit it just short of the green there and got up-and-down.

Like I said, on 4 I hit a nice slot out of the bunker. I holed about a 15-footer and hit a nice 9-iron on the second one.

You know, you hit the fairways, they run out pretty good, so you do have shorter clubs in. You can kind of be aggressive on some shots, for sure.