Jaeger gets all the ‘breaks’ he needs for a 58
German player, 27, records the lowest score in major tour play
Stephan Jaeger shot a 12-under 58 on Thursday in the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic for the lowest score in major tour play.
The 27-year-old German player finished with a 10foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward.
“It went in a little fast for my liking,” Jaeger said about his final putt. “On a day like that, it’ll go in. ... Right now, I’m actually kind of happy to be done, to be honest with you. It’s very stressful for you. It’s kind of like going on the back nine on Sunday. I’m happy I performed the way I did. It was the icing on the cake, the last hole obviously.”
Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa also shot a 12-under 58 to win the 2010 Crowns on the Tour. Jaeger broke the Web.com Tour record of 59 held by Notah Begay III, Doug Dunakey, Jason Gore, Will Wilcox and Russell Knox. Six players have shot 59 on the PGA Tour, and one on the PGA Tour Champions.
“Everything went well,” Jaeger said. “I was driving the ball well. I was making everything. I got the good breaks.” He was thinking about breaking 60. “It pretty much was in my head the whole back nine,” Jaeger said.
Mirim Lee shot a 10-under 62 to match the Women’s British Open record and open a threestroke lead in the major championship at tree-lined Woburn Golf Club. Three weeks after shooting a 64 in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open, the 25-year-old South Korean player made the last of her 10 birdies on the par-3 17th and closed with a par. Lee fell a stroke short of the LPGA Tour major record of 61 set by Hyo Joo Kim in the first round of the 2014 Evian Championship
College football
The College Football Playoff has abandoned a plan to play most of its semifinals on New Year’s Eve after television ratings tumbled last year, moving the dates of future games to ensure they will be played either on a weekend or a holiday.
The changes will start with the 2018 season. The TV ratings for last year’s games played on Thursday, Dec. 31, dropped 36 percent from the semifinals played the season before on New Year’s Day. This season’s semifinals are still set for Saturday, Dec. 31. Next season’s playoff is scheduled to be back on Jan. 1. After 2018, the games initially scheduled to be played on New Year’s Eve will now be played Saturday, Dec. 29.
NFL
Detroit added further depth to a position led by Golden Tate and depleted by Calvin Johnson’s departure by signing former 49ers receiver Anquan Boldin on Thursday just before opening training camp. The Lions signed Marvin Jones to a five-year contract days after Johnson left the league and Lions in March.
San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Kaleb Ramsey is retiring after just two seasons as a pro. Ramsey was drafted in the seventh round out of Boston College in 2014.
Le’Veon Bell believes his surgically repaired right knee feels so good he could play “tomorrow.” The wait will be considerably longer for the Pittsburgh Steelers running back, perhaps all the way until October if his appeal for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy is denied.
The New York Jets made the re-signing of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick official with a one-year deal worth $12 million guaranteed.
Developers who want to build a domed stadium for the Oakland Raiders in Las Vegas vowed to zero in on two potential sites within the next month as they face a tight timeline to lock in a real estate deal, government approvals and the NFL’s blessing.
Items belonging to Ken Stabler are being auctioned online even as the former Raiders quarterback is set to be posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pristine Auction has listed a total of 458 items.
Tennis
Sixth-seeded Venus Williams tumbled out of the Rogers Cup in the third round, falling 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3 to 10th-seeded Madison Keys in an all-American match in Montreal. Playing her last tournament match before the Rio Olympics, the 36-year-old Williams lost seven straight games before holding serve in the third game of the second set. After Williams rallied to tie the match, Keys found her serve in the third set, ending the match with her 12th ace.
Meanwhile, Milos Raonic easily advanced to the Rogers Cup quarterfinals in front of his home fans in Toronto, routing American qualifier Jared Donaldson 6-2, 6-3. The fourth-seeded Raonic set up a match Friday against 10th-seeded Gael Monfils of France.
Hockey
The Arizona Coyotes locked up two of their best young defenseman, signing Connor Murphy to a sixyear contract and Michael Stone to a one-year deal Murphy’s deal is for $23.1 million with a salary cap hit of $3.85 million. Stone’s deal, is worth $4 million.
Basketball
The NBA has announced that the Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets will pay in London on Jan. 2. The game will be played at The O2.
Richard Jefferson, who played a critical role in Cleveland winning an NBA title this season, re-signed with the Cavaliers.
Baseball
The San Jose Giants scored three runs in the eighth and held on to beat the Modesto Nuts 5-3.