Stephan Jaeger closed with a birdie for a 4-under 67 and a share of the lead before play was suspended at the Valspar Championship.
“I felt like my entire game felt pretty solid,” said Jaeger. “I kept the ball in play, I hit some nice tee shots on some of the hard holes and when I did get off the fairway I tried to get myself as easy pars as possible. I did a good job of that. I chipped nicely, overall just solid round.
“I drove it pretty poorly last week at The Players, so I put a little effort in this week on some setup stuff. It felt really nice today. So I’m happy with it.”
The German player has had two top-10 results so far this season, T3 at the Sony Open in Hawaii and T6 at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld.
Jaeger is set to defend his first career PGA Tour title at next week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open.
American Jacob Bridgeman, who posted a career-best T2 at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches recently, is tied in first place alongside compatriot Keith Mitchell who has had one top-25 finish in six starts this season (T21/The American Express).
Also tied in first place at Finland’s Sami Välimäki who played the Snake Pit (Nos. 16-18) in 2-under (par-birdie-birdie), the lowest score of any player in the field when play was suspended and American rookie Ricky Castillo who needed only 20 putts in round one, the lowest total in a round on Tour this season He is the first player with 20 putts or less in a round on Tour since Adrien Dumont de Chassart who needed 20 in the first round of the 2024 RSM Classic.
Play was suspended Thursday due to darkness at 7:39 p.m. ET with 10 players yet to complete their round. The first round will resume Friday at 9 a.m. The second round will begin as scheduled.
If it holds, 4-under would mark the highest first-round lead/co-lead in relation to par at the Valspar Championship since 2016 (4-under) and second highest in tournament history (3-under/2014). It would also tie the highest first-round lead/co-lead in relation to par this season (The Genesis Invitational).
Defending champion Peter Malnati of the USA lies in T78 at 2-over after missing every fairway in round one, the first player to miss every fairway in a round at the Valspar Championship since 2000.
Related: Gary Player raises concerns over Tiger Woods’ Masters future amid ongoing injury struggles
| Pos. | Player | Thru | Round | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Jacob Bridgeman | F | -4 | 67 |
| T1 | Keith Mitchell | F | -4 | 67 |
| T1 | Stephan Jaeger | F | -4 | 67 |
| T1 | Ricky Castillo | F | -4 | 67 |
| T1 | Sami Valimaki | F | -4 | 67 |
| T6 | Ryan Fox | F | -3 | 68 |
| T6 | Nico Echavarria | F | -3 | 68 |
| T6 | Nick Hardy | F | -3 | 68 |
| T9 | Davis Riley | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Harry Hall | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Billy Horschel | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Andrew Putnam | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Victor Perez | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Jeremy Paul | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Nate Lashley | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Sam Stevens | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Luke List | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Sahith Theegala | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Andrew Novak | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Justin Lower | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | F | -2 | 69 |
| T9 | Kevin Velo | 17 | -2 | - |
| T23 | Mac Meissner | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Nicolai Højgaard | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Matthieu Pavon | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Sepp Straka | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Xander Schauffele | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Byeong Hun An | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Matt Wallace | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Kaito Onishi | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Seamus Power | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Viktor Hovland | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Lucas Glover | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | David Lipsky | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Ryan Gerard | F | -1 | 70 |
| T23 | Antoine Rozner | 17 | -1 | - |
| T23 | Quade Cummins | 16 | -1 | - |
| T23 | Hayden Buckley | 15 | -1 | - |
| T39 | Danny Willett | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Thomas Detry | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Emiliano Grillo | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | C.T. Pan | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Greg Koch | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Thorbjørn Olesen | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | John Pak | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Tim Widing | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Bud Cauley | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Will Zalatoris | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Adam Hadwin | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Sam Ryder | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Ben Silverman | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Shane Lowry | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Corey Conners | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | J.T. Poston | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Vince Whaley | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Ryo Hisatsune | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Doug Ghim | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Henrik Norlander | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Jesper Svensson | F | Par | 71 |
| T39 | Noah Goodwin | F | Par | 71 |
| T61 | Rico Hoey | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Matti Schmid | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Joseph Bramlett | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Ben Martin | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Will Gordon | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Kevin Yu | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Sam Burns | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Gary Woodland | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Tommy Fleetwood | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Brice Garnett | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Mason Andersen | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Mark Hubbard | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Beau Hossler | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Aaron Baddeley | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Max McGreevy | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Will Chandler | F | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Braden Thornberry | 16 | +1 | - |
| T78 | Chandler Phillips | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Michael Kim | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Patrick Fishburn | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Lanto Griffin | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Webb Simpson | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Peter Malnati | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Adam Svensson | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Joe Highsmith | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Greyson Sigg | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Nick Gabrelcik | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Kieron Van Wyk(a) | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Camilo Villegas | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Justin Thomas | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Brandt Snedeker | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Matt McCarty | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Taylor Moore | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Aldrich Potgieter | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Trevor Cone | F | +2 | 73 |
| T78 | Kris Ventura | 17 | +2 | - |
| T78 | Rikuya Hoshino | 17 | +2 | - |
| T98 | Kevin Kisner | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Eric Cole | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Adam Scott | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Tom Kim | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Rafael Campos | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Danny Walker | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Kevin Roy | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Takumi Kanaya | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Taylor Dickson | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | David Skinns | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | K.H. Lee | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Alex Smalley | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Chad Ramey | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Karl Vilips | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Jordan Spieth | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Jake Knapp | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Cam Davis | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Joel Dahmen | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Chan Kim | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Luke Clanton(a) | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Matteo Manassero | F | +3 | 74 |
| T98 | Michael Thorbjornsen | F | +3 | 74 |
| T121 | Luke Donald | F | +4 | 75 |
| T121 | Kevin Tway | F | +4 | 75 |
| T121 | Brian Campbell | F | +4 | 75 |
| T121 | Vincent Norrman | F | +4 | 75 |
| T121 | Mackenzie Hughes | F | +4 | 75 |
| T121 | Zach Johnson | F | +4 | 75 |
| T121 | Chris Gotterup | F | +4 | 75 |
| T121 | Ben Griffin | F | +4 | 75 |
| T121 | Alejandro Tosti | F | +4 | 75 |
| T121 | Niklas Norgaard | F | +4 | 75 |
| T121 | Matthew Riedel | F | +4 | 75 |
| T132 | Rasmus Højgaard | F | +5 | 76 |
| T132 | Cristobal Del Solar | F | +5 | 76 |
| T132 | Steven Fisk | F | +5 | 76 |
| T132 | Neal Shipley | F | +5 | 76 |
| T132 | Ben Kohles | F | +5 | 76 |
| T132 | Cameron Young | F | +5 | 76 |
| T132 | Paul Peterson | 15 | +5 | - |
| T139 | Jackson Suber | F | +6 | 77 |
| T139 | William Mouw | F | +6 | 77 |
| T139 | Thomas Rosenmueller | F | +6 | 77 |
| T139 | Harry Higgs | F | +6 | 77 |
| T139 | Blades Brown | 16 | +6 | - |
| T144 | Jhonattan Vegas | F | +7 | 78 |
| T144 | Thriston Lawrence | F | +7 | 78 |
| T144 | Frankie Capan III | F | +7 | 78 |
| T144 | Adrien Dumont de Chassart | 15 | +7 | - |
| T148 | Matt Kuchar | F | +8 | 79 |
| T148 | Philip Knowles | F | +8 | 79 |
| T150 | Adam Schenk | F | +9 | 80 |
| T150 | Kurt Kitayama | F | +9 | 80 |
| 152 | Andre Chi | F | +10 | 81 |
| W/D | Patton Kizzire | - | - | - |
| W/D | Charley Hoffman | - | - | - |
