Sahith

Theegala

Theegala narrowly missed out on East Lake this season so his status was already fully secure for the 2024 campaign. His ability to freewheel it this week certainly helped his case and then he leaned on past experiences when being in contention. “I was so, so much calmer today. At Waste I was just kind of thrown in with all the top guys in the world and that might have been my 10th PGA TOUR start that year on a sponsor invite. Yeah, much calmer and chiller atmosphere this week and I think that helped.” This was his third time holding a 54-hole lead with finishes of T8 (2021-22 Sanderson Farms Championship) and T3 (2022 WM Phoenix Open) in the previous two. With him locking up a big career goal like this, combined with the fact his status is already secured for next season, it’s unlikely that we’ll see much more of Theegala before the 2024 campaign kicks off.

Theegala opened on the 10th tee and eased into his round then blitzed the final nine with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch. Highlights included a trio of putts converted from outside of 11 feet including a 29-foot birdie bomb at the par-3 13th. “Honestly, for me the big thing is just hitting it in the fairways and for the most part I did do that. I hit a couple squirrelly ones, but as long as I keep minimizing those, I like where the rest of my game’s been at for a while.” Theegala arrived with top 10s in his last two stroke-play events and he’s right back in the hunt this week as he remains on the search for his breakout win.

Theegala was making his second appearance at the event (T70) and showed great year-over-year improvement. That is the story of his entire career as he continues to build his skillset to find himself in frequent contention. “I’m learning every tournament. Hopefully I never stop learning out here. I feel like there’s always something you can pick up on out here with all these world-class guys, and yeah, I feel like my game is getting better and better and I’ve just been putting in the work with my team, and it all feels really good. I just haven’t gotten off to the greatest starts in tournaments, and I feel like I’m always kind of having a good weekend.” He made a Sunday charge last week at Augusta National, as well. He now has top 15s in five of his last seven stroke-play events.

Theegala enters the week with top 15s in three of his last five stroke-play events. He continues to put his name near the top of leaderboards but is still searching for a breakout win. Could it be love at first sight for the Pepperdine product? “I feel like this course sets up really well for me specifically. It’s a little bit wider off the tee and more approach shot and a lot of two-putt, short game up-and-down oriented. It’s nice. I feel like I could play from anywhere out here.” He has played eight practice rounds in the last five months will still need to adjust to tournament conditions come Thursday.

The Pepperdine product split just 22-of-56 fairways this week, losing 2.4 strokes off-the-tee over the course of the event. He made up for it with superb iron play (+7.34 SG:Approach) while also gaining 5.43 strokes around-the-green. Both of those were career-best weeks in terms of measured events on the PGA TOUR. Theegala now has top 10s in 18 percent of his 56 starts on the PGA TOUR. He’ll need to tune up the driver before his next event but he continues to trend toward a maiden win.

Theegala eased into his round with eight pars and a birdie before dropping back-to-back shots after the turn. He rebounded with three birdies down the stretch including a near-eagle to end his week at the 18th. Theegala ranked 4th in strokes gained approach this week among the measured rounds at Torrey Pines South but lost strokes off the tee and was right around average with the putter. The Pepperdine product continues to flirt with his breakout win. He now has six top 5s on his PGA TOUR resume, in just 54 total starts. He’s not in the field for next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

The California native split nine (of 14) fairways and landed 14 greens in regulation while taking on the North Course at Torrey Pines, which is the easier of the two courses used before the 36-hole cut this week. He was 3.7 shots better than the field average at the North Course today. Theegala got off to a similar start last year in his Farmers debut, he was T9 after an opening 67 (NC) then backed it up with a 4-under 68 on day two. Theegala was T4 at the midpoint then faded to T25 over the weekend of that 2022 Farmers. He remains on the hunt for his breakout PGA TOUR win.

This week’s event featured R1 scramble scoring, R2 modified alternate shot, and finished with four-ball. Theegala and Hoge weren’t the best on day one (T4) but fired the low round of the day on Saturday and matched the low round today. The duo was tied going into the final hole and Theegala poured home a 20-footer to seal the win. Many gamers are expected Theegala to secure his maiden win in 2023 and today’s experience certainly can’t hurt when it comes to gaining experience fighting for a win against some of the best players in the world. Hoge and Theegala were both first-time participants at the QBE Shootout.

Theegala made it to East Lake last year despite not winning an event. He continued to put himself in contention to win with this going in the books as the fifth top-5 of his young career. “It’s just awesome to be in this position. And I feel like I’m getting more and more comfortable and also don’t necessarily have to play my A-plus or A-game to get there, whereas I felt like the first couple times, like in Phoenix and even at Sanderson, I was playing like as good as I could I feel like almost in those couple events. The last couple times I’ve been in the top-10, it’s felt a lot more, I don’t want to say easier, but I can feel the progression in my game, I can see the progression in my game. That’s a big positive.” Theegala’s birdie tally (20) was just T13 in the field but he swallowed just one bogey and one double bogey all week. That is the type of consistent play that will eventually lead to a PGA TOUR win or two.

Theegala made the Tour Championship field without a victory and has been similarly solid in the fall, including a pair of top-6 finishes and a T-22 result last week in Houston. He’s in the hunt once again on Sea Island after a 7-under 63 on the Seaside Course, one of three players to tie for low round honors on the host course. Theegala had eight birdies against just one bogey, including three straight circles on Nos. 6-8 toward the end of his round. Theegala was a runner-up at the Travelers Championship and T-3 at the Phoenix Open this year and will look to go a couple spots better this week as he heads into the weekend one spot behind a trio of co-leaders, two of whom are also looking to win for the first time.