Sahith Theegala

This article is about the golfer. For other uses, see Sahith (disambiguation).

Sahith Theegala
Theegala in December 2022
Personal information
Full nameSahith Reddy Theegala
Born (1997-12-04) December 4, 1997 (age 26)
Orange, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceHouston, Texas
Career
CollegePepperdine University[1]
Turned professional2020
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins2
Highest ranking11 (June 9, 2024)[2]
(as of November 3, 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament9th: 2023
PGA ChampionshipT12: 2024
U.S. OpenT27: 2023
The Open ChampionshipT34: 2022
Achievements and awards
Haskins Award2020
Ben Hogan Award2020
Jack Nicklaus Award2020

Sahith Reddy Theegala (born December 4, 1997)[3] is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Early life

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Theegala was born in 1997 in Orange, California, to Muralidhar and Karuna Theegala and has a younger brother.[4] He is of Indian descent and was raised in nearby Chino Hills, California; his family came to the United States, from Telangana, India, in the late-1980s.[5]

Amateur career

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Theegala was a three-time NCAA All-American at Pepperdine University.[1][6] In his final year at Pepperdine, Theegala won the Southwestern Invitational,[3] the Alister MacKenzie Invitational, and the Australian Master of the Amateurs.[7] His collegiate career was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the 2020 season to end early, with his Pepperdine team ranked first in the nation.[8]

In 2020, Theegala won the Haskins Award, the Ben Hogan Award, and the Jack Nicklaus Award, becoming just the fifth person ever to win all three awards in the same year.[9][10]

Professional career

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Theegala made his professional debut in June 2020 at the Outlaw Tour's Lone Tree Classic, where he tied for third place.[6] He finished T-14 at the 2020 Safeway Open on the PGA Tour. He finished T-19 at his first Korn Ferry Tour event, the 2021 Chitimacha Louisiana Open. He finished T-9 at MGM Resorts Championship at Paiute.

Theegala also played a few PGA Tour events in 2020–21, mainly on sponsors' exemptions. He received enough points as a non-member to earn a place in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in 2021.[11] He then finished T-4 at Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship and 6th at Korn Ferry Tour Championship. With consecutive top-10 finishes in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, Theegala secured his PGA Tour card for 2021–22 season. He got his first top-10 finish on the PGA Tour at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October 2021. He finished third at the WM Phoenix Open in February 2022. He finished seventh at the Valspar Championship in March 2022. In June 2022, Theegala tied for second in the Travelers Championship.[12] At the end of the 2021–22 season, Theegala made the Tour Championship by finishing in top 30.

Theegala opened his 2022–23 season with a top-10 finish at the Fortinet Championship in September 2022. He tied for second at the RSM Classic in November 2022, two shots behind winner Adam Svensson. He continued his season with a tied-for-sixth finish at the Genesis Invitational in February 2023.

On September 17, 2023, he earned his first official PGA Tour victory at the Fortinet Championship, finishing at −21 to secure a two-shot victory.[13]

On August 31, 2024, during the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, Theegala called a 2-shot penalty on himself after noticing that his club touched the sand on his backswing in a bunker. As an effect of the penalty, Theegala finished third instead of tied second and received $2.5 million less prize money.[14]

Personal life

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Theegala appeared in the sports documentary series Full Swing, which premiered on Netflix on February 15, 2023.[15]

Amateur wins

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  • 2010 Future Masters 1
  • 2011 Junior All-Star at Robinson Ranch
  • 2012 Presidents Boys Cup
  • 2014 Los Angeles City Championship
  • 2017 Southwestern Invitational, Sahalee Players Championship
  • 2018 Waves Challenge
  • 2019 SCGA Amateur Championship, Alister MacKenzie Invitational
  • 2020 Australian Master of the Amateurs, Southwestern Invitational

Source:[16]

Professional wins (2)

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PGA Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 Sep 17, 2023 Fortinet Championship 68-64-67-68=267 −21 2 strokes South Korea Kim Seong-hyeon

Other wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runners-up
1 Dec 11, 2022 QBE Shootout
(with United States Tom Hoge) 		60-60-62=182 −34 1 stroke United States Charley Hoffman and United States Ryan Palmer

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2017 2018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Masters Tournament 9 T45
PGA Championship T40 T12
U.S. Open CUT T27 T32
The Open Championship NT T34 CUT CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Totals 0 0 0 0 1 2 11 7
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2022 Open Championship – 2023 U.S. Open)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (once)

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2022 2023 2024
The Players Championship CUT 74 T9
  Top 10

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 2023
Match Play T31

"T" = Tied

U.S. national team appearances

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Amateur

Source:[16]

Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Sahith Theegala – Men's Golf". Pepperdine University Athletics. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  2. ^ "Week 23 2024 Ending 9 Jun 2024" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Romine, Brentley (January 28, 2020). "'I did it for Mamba': Theegala wins Southwestern Invitational in Kobe jersey". Golf Channel.
  4. ^ Cyrgalis, Brett (July 2, 2020). "Golfer's Pro Journey Starts With a Burst Bubble". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "India heritage helps rookie Sahith Theegala find US PGA success". The Times of India. AFP. October 7, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Pepperdine Senior Theegala Wins Ben Hogan Award". The New York Times. June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  7. ^ Romine, Brentley (June 9, 2020). "Sahith Theegala adds to accomplishments, wins Ben Hogan Award". Golf Channel. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  8. ^ Conover, Brayden (May 15, 2020). "After long road to recovery, Theegala goes out on top". AmateurGolf.com. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  9. ^ Herrington, Ryan. "Pepperdine's Sahith Theegala grabs another one of college golf's top honors, winning the Ben Hogan Award". Golf Digest. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  10. ^ Romine, Brentley (July 8, 2020). "Sahith Theegala joins exclusive company after winning Jack Nicklaus Award". Golf Channel. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  11. ^ Parker, Nick (September 24, 2021). "Sahith Theegala's unique path to qualifying for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals". PGA Tour. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  12. ^ Berhow, Josh (June 26, 2022). "Xander Schauffele wins Travelers Championship after Sahith Theegala's heartbreaking finish". Golf.com.
  13. ^ Wagaman, Michael (September 17, 2023). "Sahith Theegala wins the Fortinet Championship in Napa for his first PGA Tour victory". Associated Press News. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  14. ^ Strege, John (September 1, 2024). "Here's what Sahith Theegala's self-imposed penalty ultimately cost him (hint: it's 7 figures!)". Golf Digest. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  15. ^ "Tee Up for 'Full Swing,' the Golf Documentary Series That Drives Plenty of Drama". Netflix Tudum. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Sahith Theegala". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
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