Sahith Theegala Becomes a Name to Remember After WM Phoenix Open
The last three events on the PGA Tour have all produced first-time winners: Luke List at the Farmers Insurance Open, Tom Hoge at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and now, Scottie Scheffler at the WM Phoenix Open.
The streak could have still been intact but Sunday’s first-time winner was very nearly not Scheffler. But for a bad break near the end of the tournament, 24-year-old Sahith Theegala could have kept Scheffler on the shelf as the most promising non-winner on Tour.
Theegala was tied for the lead standing on the tee of the 17th hole, the second most famous driveable par-4 on the PGA Tour. He hit a 16-degree hybrid — the same club that put him right in front of the green in Saturday’s third round — and a wicked kick put his ball into the water on the left. A poor chip led to a bogey and Theegala’s story was essentially over.
Theegala is a rookie on Tour and a name practically no one outside the PGA Tour would know. However, he has become widely known among the players as someone who has the ability to shoot a score without his best stuff tee-to-green. And he isn't without experience near the lead. His third-round lead at the WMPO was not his first on Tour. He led after 54 holes at the Sanderson Farms Championship last fall and wound up tied for eighth. On Sunday, he tied for third, one shot out of the playoff between Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay.
“I thought I hit a great shot on 17,” Theegala said afterward. “It was cutting. As long as it's another yard right, I think that's perfect. Kick straight and it's good. I just didn't hit the shots at the right time when it counted. But definitely proud of the way I played this week.”
Theegala’s Phoenix finish will go quite a way toward keeping his playing privileges for next season. “I think I'll have plenty of time to think about it on my drive back home, but definitely excited for what the rest of the year holds,” Theegala said, referencing his drive from Phoenix to his parents’ home in Chino Hills, Calif., where he still lives, in his Volkswagen Passat that he’s motored all over the West Coast swing.
He was in the WMPO on a sponsor’s exemption and also has an exemption for this week’s Genesis Invitational.
Theegala led by two shots after 36 holes and was paired in the third round with Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele, which got the young man’s attention.
“I'm still not fully over the fact that I'm playing with these guys, right? Like I think that's going to be a learning process that I need to get better with, because this is probably the strongest field I've played in so far this year and I was definitely a little bit star struck,” said Theegala, who played collegiately at Pepperdine University.
“Even on the first tee I'm like, ‘Man, I'm playing with Xander and Brooks? Like, are you kidding me?’ Like what an opportunity, though, just to see them up close and they're great dudes and, yeah, pretty crazy.”
“But definitely these last couple rounds and last couple days really gave me a lot of confidence to tell me that, hey, I do belong up here.”