Stephan Jaeger

Jaeger had been unable to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs in his two previous seasons on Tour after consistently showing himself as one of the best players on the Korn Ferry Tour over the years, but he managed to turn the tide with back-to-back top-15s to close the regular season. He isn't long or straight off-the-tee but does everything else well and capable of carrying the momentum into this season.

Jaeger racked up two wins and a quartet of runner-up finishes during the 2020-21 KFT season en route to claiming the No. 1 spot in the priority rankings, so he'll enjoy fully exempt status during the 2021-22 PGA Tour campaign in addition to a Players Championship entry. The 32-year-old German placed no worse than T4 throughout his last three KFT starts, threatening to join the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career as the upcoming fall series commences. Jaeger's last full season at the PGA Tour level came in 2018-19 when he finished 152nd in the FedExCup standings, making the cut in exactly half of his 26 events played.

Earning the final spot in opposite PGA Tour events throughout the 2020-21 season via a top-10 finish in the Korn Ferry Tour Points list, Jaeger won the Boise Open by two shots in August to get him this far. All three of his top-25 finishes on the KFT this year were actually top-5s, and he made the cut in 12 of 16 events. Jaeger had full status on the PGA Tour in 2018 and 2019, but missed 24 cuts over the two-season span.

Jaeger was successful in finishing top-25 during the Web.com Tour Finals to maintain his status on the PGA Tour after finishing the 2017-18 season 165th in the FedExCup standings. The German added top-8 finishes at the Web.com Tour Championship and DAP Championship, rising to 220th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He finished outside of the top-125 on the PGA Tour in SG: Approach, SG: Putting and driving accuracy, however.

After missing four cuts in his first six starts to begin the 2017 Web.com season, Jaeger won two of his next three events before making the cut at the U.S. Open in June. The German would eventually come back to earth, however, finishing top-15 just once throughout his last 11 events while missing four cuts during that span as well. Jaeger's mid-season surge was still impressive enough to land him at fifth on the regular season money list, earning a PGA tour card for the first time in his career.