The post ‘The fact that I’m even on the PGA Tour is pretty absurd’: Pro opens up after making Tour Championship appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘The fact that I’m even on the PGA Tour is pretty absurd’: Pro opens up after making Tour Championship appeared first on Golf.

“Even yesterday, I was walking up 18, hit my 5-wood in the right rough, which is so standard there, and I was just — I turned to [caddie] Carl [Smith], I was like, it’s incredible how much better I could get and how bad,” Theegala said matter-of-factly Sunday at Wilmington Country Club. “I totally agree some parts of my game have been incredible this year, but just playing with some of these guys, they are so good, and seeing different facets of their game that I feel like I can improve so much more in every area of the game.”

In a way so rarely seen on the PGA Tour, Theegala peeled back the curtain on what emotions he felt with a spot in the Tour Championship on the line.

He started the day on the number, projected 30th in the FedEx Cup standings. Top 30 get to play in the Tour Championship and all that comes with it: a berth in all four of next year’s major championships and the Players Championship and exemptions into the Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Memorial, which will have increased, $20 million purses next season. And then there’s the ridiculous purse for FedEx Cup, in which the winner at East Lake takes home $18 million.

Even next week’s 30th (last) place finisher gets a check for $300k.

Theegala admitted he was feeling the nerves on the morning of the final round.

“I had my best friend, Roy, with me this week, and it was cool having him by my side. But I was nervous,” he said. “I had a little bit of the shakes warming up. I couldn’t hold my hands still. I felt great mindset-wise, but just body-wise, I knew something big was on the line.

Tournaments

He said his birdie on the opening hole helped settle those nerves.

But even Theegala, who’s successful rookie campaign featured a couple of close calls with top-3 finishes at Phoenix and Hartford, said the pressure of trying to make a Tour Championship was just as much as trying to win a tournament.

So often we heard this week of pros saying their mindset was take care of business at this tournament and the FedEx Cup standing would take care of itself. On Sunday, Theegala might as well have said the opposite.

“I’m in 30th place out of 70 people, and I’m as nervous as if I were near the lead,” Theegala said. “It was definitely different, and it definitely felt like a tournament within a tournament. That putt on the last hole just felt so big. It really felt like some of the putts I had made coming down the stretch when I was near the lead there.”

He wasn’t really ever close. His 68 put him at 7-under for the week, good for a tie for 15th, but seven strokes back of winner Patrick Cantlay. Nevertheless the nerves were still there and that’s what made the week fun for Theegala.

“Oh, that’s what it’s all about. The fact that you’re even in that position to feel nerves is a good thing,” he said. “I think that’s something I tell a lot of guys is like, hey, if you’re nervous, that’s such a good feeling. Imagine not being nervous, then what you’re doing kind of thing. Obviously there’s a fine line between serious nervousness and anxiety and comfortability, and finding that line is tough, but yeah, just pressure is a privilege, and I sure felt that way today.”

News

His round couldn’t have done anything to alleviate any of those nerves. He hit only one fairway, but somehow managed 13 greens mostly hitting out of Wilmington Country Club’s deep rough and made five birdies in order to secure his tie for 15th. Four of those five came in the last seven holes to move from outside the Top-30 in the FedEx Cup to No. 28 in the standings, punching his ticket to Atlanta.

But there were notable moments outside of the birdies coming down the stretch.

“Sixteen, it was my bread and butter, kind of the low stinger fade that I hit with a 3-iron all year, and just squirted right on me and hit a tree like 160 yards off the tee,” Theegala said. “I was just so frustrated there. I was like, come on, this is the one chance — I still hadn’t hit a fairway to that point, so I caught a great lie in the rough.

“I had like 210 or 220 to the hole. I was just trying to blast it over the green. Blasted it over the green, had a tough lie but knew it was an easy chip, so chipped it in there to three feet, which was great.”

Then the crescendo of for Theegala came on after finally finding the fairway for the only time all day.

Tournaments

“Best tee shot I’ve hit in a long time. I think I had like 70 yards in. Hit a horrible pitch there. I was like, oh, great, I hit a fairway and now I whiff the wedge,” Theegala said. “But I just had a good feeling over that putt. I hadn’t really made any long putts this week, and it had a nice look to it, and I didn’t have to hit it too hard because it was a touch downhill, and it was just tracking the whole way. I gave a pretty big fist pump, which I’ve been holding in for seems like over a month now.

“I can’t remember the last time I fist pumped, so that was cool.”

His 37-footer got him to 7-under for the week, the number which would eventually prove critical for him, if he could stay there.

He missed the green on 18 and needed to get up and down from short and right of the green.

“I felt very comfortable that I’d get it up-and-down. I didn’t know how I would,” Theegala said. “But the fact that it was left to what I feel is the strongest part of my game was fitting. [I] hit a decent chip. I was nervous on that for sure, but left myself an easy putt, and it was really satisfying to hit my line on that one.”

He may not have remembered his last fist pump before 17, but it didn’t take long for his next one after he drained the 7-footer on 18 for par and to get in the clubhouse at 7-under.

However his season is not over and he will play for the $75 million in FedEx Cup bonus money in Atlanta with the rest of the top-30.

“I think the validation of the season, it’s another step for me to feel like I really belong because I still don’t feel like I’m really there at the top of the game,” Theegala said. “Slowly building confidence every week, whether it’s a good or bad week. I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress.

“It would mean the world to make the Tour Championship and stand along 29 of the other best golfers in the world.”

He’s come along from his initial goal at the start of the season.

“The fact that I’m even on the PGA Tour is pretty absurd,” Theegala admitted. “My only expectation was really to keep my card, and obviously I’ve blown that out of the water.”

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The post Rocket Mortgage Classic expert picks: 4 wagers that we really like this week appeared first on Golf.

The post Rocket Mortgage Classic expert picks: 4 wagers that we really like this week appeared first on Golf.

We’re in something of a lull in the PGA Tour schedule.

But just because the field is not the season’s strongest doesn’t mean the handicapping has to slow.

At No. 4 in the world, Patrick Cantlay is the highest-ranked player. He is also the odds-on favorite, but red-hot Tony Finau is close behind as he looks to bag his second win in as many weeks.

Other notables include Will Zalatoris, Open Championship runner-up Cameron Young and Rocket Mortgage defending champ Cam Davis.

And let’s not forget Andy Lack, GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator. A data analyst for Odds Checker, and the co-host of The Scramble, a twice-weekly golf handicapping show, Lack does not base his plays on random guesswork. 

Tournaments

And this week, in a change of format, we’re tapping deeper into his expertise by asking him to give us his four favorite wagers. His picks, along with the reasoning behind them, are laid out below. 

Lack is a pro. But if you also want to know where public opinion is leaning, keeping reading. Below his picks, we’re sharing data from Chirp, a free-to-play mobile platform (and GOLF.com affiliate) that allows you to engage with the action through a range of games.

Andy Lack’s Expert Picks:

To win: Sahith Theegala (+4600) 

Odds available on Bet365

I’ve had Theegala earmarked at this event for months, and I am far from deterred by his missed cut last week at the 3M Open. The former Haskins Award winner’s ball-striking remained steady, and he only missed out on the weekend due to a faulty putter. Now, he travels to a golf course that should be a better fit for his game. 

Theegala’s biggest weakness is the occasional big miss with the driver, a flaw that will be exposed often at a course like TPC Twin Cities, but little at Detroit Golf Club. We’ve seen Theegala go head-to-head on Sunday with players such as Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and Schauffele again at the Travelers Championship. Some may view these near misses as scar tissue. I view them as worthy learning experiences for a towering talent who is due to break through.

Top 10: Scott Stallings (+600) 

Odds available on FanDuel

Stallings has quietly been playing some excellent golf this season, and he’s coming off a fourth-place finish at the John Deere Classic where he gained four strokes off the tee, and 3.7 strokes on approach. Before that, he finished eighth at the Travelers on the bent/poa greens, the same type he’ll face this week. 

Stallings checks the rare box of a player coming in with great ball-striking form, who is also an ideal course fit. The three-time PGA Tour winner has above average distance off the tee, is a great wedge player and has shown an ability to catch fire with the flatstick. Most of his best finishes have come in tournaments with easier scoring conditions, and I have little doubt about his ability to keep up in a birdie-fest. 

Top 40: Taylor Pendrith (+110)

Odds available on DraftKings

Pendrith has been on my radar since he contended at the Bermuda Championship during the fall swing. Unfortunately, injuries have derailed his season and he was sidelined for four months between March and July. The Canadian returned to action at the Barbasol Championship with a 13th-place finish and backed it up the following week with an 11th-place finish at the Barracuda Championship. 

Pendrith is known for his elite driving ability, and there’s an argument to be made that he’s currently the longest player on Tour. Detroit Golf Club is a course we’ve seen overpowered before. There’s an interesting parallel between Detroit GC and Winged Foot, as Bryson DeChambeau and Matthew Wolff were able to use the same strategy at both courses of aggressively wailing away with driver to get as close to the green as possible, knowing that even from the rough, they would be able to stop their shorter irons on the back to front sloping greens. 

As a relative unknown, Pendrith gained more than four strokes off the tee at the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot deploying a similar strategy. While I’m worried his spotty iron play could hold him back from contending, I’m confident his dominance off the tee will carry him to a top-40 finish, at the very least. 

Matchup: Rickie Fowler (+100) over Jason Day 

Odds available on DraftKings

It’s hard not categorize both players in this matchup as disappointments this season, but I remain far more bullish on Fowler. The former Players Championship winner quietly gained three strokes off the tee last week en route to a 36th-place-finish at the 3M Open. 

Gear

While swing changes have contributed to Fowler’s spotty recent form, one aspect of his game that has improved is his distance off the tee. Fowler ranks top-30 in this field in driving distance, and we’ve began to finally see his work on distance gains come to fruition. The 3M Open was his best off the tee week since the CJ Cup in October. Now, he returns to a course that he has never missed a cut at in three appearances. 

I find Jason Day much harder to trust right now, as it’s difficult to tell if he’s ever fully healthy. He recently withdrew from the John Deere Classic, and while he started out strong last week at the 3M Open, he was one of the worst players in the field over the weekend, fading to a T64. Fowler is simply a safer bet to make the cut and put four rounds together right now, and I will gladly back him at plus money. 

Who the betting public likes to win 

Some 600 users have already made their picks for Chirp’s free-to-play Trifecta game, a healthy sample that gives us a sense where public sentiment stands. As a reminder, the Trifecta game calls for players to make three picks: a favorite, a contender and a long shot, all categories based on the Official World Golf Ranking. Here’s a look at the three top vote getters in each category, along with the percentage of votes they received.

Want to play Chirp yourself? You can download the app here.

Favorites (players ranked 1-20): 

Patrick Cantlay (33.39 percent)
Will Zalatoris (23.04 percent)
Tony Finau (14.19 percent)

Contenders (players ranked 21-60): 

Denny McCarthy (24.21 percent)
Stewart Cink (11.35 percent)
Emiliano Grillo (7.01 percent)

Long Shots (players ranked 61 or higher): 

John Huh (18.86 percent)
Nick Hardy (14.19 percent)
Scott Piercy (7.68 percent)

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The post ‘I’m just doing whatever’: This pro’s putting approach is chaotic (but surprisingly effective!) appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘I’m just doing whatever’: This pro’s putting approach is chaotic (but surprisingly effective!) appeared first on Golf.

Consider PGA Tour-star-in-the-making Sahith Theegala as Exhibit A; his approach to putting embodies that Einstein witticism like few other golfers.

Two summers ago, Theegala was making his second PGA Tour start at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and struggled to get things going on the greens. So, mid-round, he switched his grip from traditional to left-hand low.

“I was putting terrible,” he said at the time. “So I was like, ‘All right, let’s switch up the feel.’ I just go back and forth depending on, literally, how I’m feeling.”

Not many golfers — let alone pros — would have the gumption to switch grips in the middle of their round. Theegala is not like most golfers.

The 24-year-old’s willingness to switch it up at a moment’s notice dates back to his high school days. He explained at this week’s Genesis Invitational that switching from traditional to left-hand low started as a way to combat discomfort he felt over left-to-right putts. With a cross-handed grip, he’s able to guard against shutting the face down at impact and missing the putt on the low side.

“I just started not trusting my line,” Theegala told GOLF.com. “Putting cross-handed helped me get a little bit more on top of it — I’m almost shoving the ball on right-to-lefters.”

Fitness

He’s stuck with that free-flowing approach through his decorated career at Pepperdine — where he won national player of the year honors his senior year — and now on the PGA Tour. Theegala earned his card last summer through the KFT Finals, and in his first season with Tour status he’s racked up nine made cuts in 11 starts, including a T3 finish at the WM Phoenix Open.

However, despite strong play during his first full-time season at the highest level, he hasn’t stuck with just one putting grip. During last fall’s RSM Classic, Theegala struggled to pull the trigger standing over putts. Naturally, he started putting with a claw grip.

“And I hate the claw,” he said with a smile.

As of late, he’s back to a traditional grip. It’s been working, so no need to change.

“I’m just doing whatever,” Theegala said. “I don’t know when I’m gonna break it up.”

If history is any indication, the answer is obvious: whenever he feels he needs a spark on the greens.

NEWSLETTER

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The post 2 pre-round warm-up exercises Sahith Theegala does before every round appeared first on Golf.

In the end, a few squirly shots down the stretch left the 24 year-old Pepperdine alum one shot shy of a playoff. Disappointing, of course, but progress he can be proud of — with undoubtedly much more to come.

One of the strengths in Theegala’s game so far this season has been his performance from tee-to-green, where he currently ranks 55th on tour in Strokes Gained. And the hard work of maintaining those numbers starts in the gym.

Whether you realize it or not, most pros start their warmup long before they arrive on the first tee. These warmups rarely involve intense exercise and are instead treated more like activation sessions: Targeted movements designed to wake up specific areas of the body.

For Theegala, that involves two movements that involve activating his core, which you can watch in full on the Titelist Performance Institute’s Instagram video below.

Core-Activating Exercises

The first involves Theegala getting into golf posture and using a weighted cord, making a butter-churning motion with his arms. Your core’s job during this movement is to maintain stability as your arms move around the weight.

The second starts by standing on one leg, tilting forward with your upper body (using your raised leg to counter-balance) and then pulling your arm behind you. Your core’s job in this exercise is to provide torso stability as you move your legs and arms.

Both are crucial movements when it comes to swinging a golf club that, clearly, has been paying dividends on the course for Theegala.

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The post Monday Finish Minute: Phoenix Open Takeaways and Genesis Lookahead appeared first on Golf.

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The post Who is Sahith Theegala? Meet Phoenix Open leader with one hell of a Kobe story appeared first on Golf.

The post Who is Sahith Theegala? Meet Phoenix Open leader with one hell of a Kobe story appeared first on Golf.

How much so? He has a story. It’s his senior year at Pepperdine, and the Waves are practicing for a home tournament, when he and the rest of the basketball world came to a stop in late January of 2020. From here, we’ll let Theegala tell it. 

“Like millions of other people, Kobe was my sports idol,” Theegala told GOLF.com in a spring of 2020 interview. “I grew up watching Kobe and the Lakers with my dad. The two sports we watched were golf and basketball, and I’ve been a Lakers fan since I can remember. I would cry when the Lakers would lose or Kobe would have a bad game when I was young. 

“I found out that he crashed at the beginning of our practice round for our home tournament, and the craziest part was, where he crashed was in Calabasas, and that’s where my apartment is. I literally live a mile from where he crashed. I was in disbelief. I could hardly play the practice round. I went back to my apartment, I had a few jerseys and a pair of Kobes that I’ve had for a while. I just grabbed those and brought them with me back to the hotel room, and I figured I’ve been a big Kobe fan, regardless of how I’m playing, I’m going to try to honor him the last day. Depending on what the circumstances were, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do the last day. I just knew I was going to wear it while playing — I don’t know if it was going to be hole eight because I had an eight jersey, or if I was just going to wear it during the last round. 

“I ended up being in the lead so I didn’t want it to affect me that much, and I was still 100 percent going to do it on the last hole. It just so happened that I had a one-shot lead. It literally couldn’t have worked out better. I just hit my second shot on 18, and right after I hit it, I flipped on the jersey, walked up to the green and hit both my putts in it. And after I made the second putt, obviously I gave a little tap to the jersey to pay my respects to Kobe. I was just really happy to do that, to pay my respects to the guy who I’ve idolized pretty much for my whole career.”

Theegala, after Friday at the Phoenix, continues to lead after a scorching, eight-birdie, one-bogey 64, the day’s low round. Immediately trailing him are a golf all-star team: Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. This weekend, they’ll be playing in front of fans who are maybe best described this way: Talor Gooch was asked Friday the best costume he’s seen at TPC Scottsdale. “The best outfit that I’ve seen, it was actually not from this year, it was two years ago maybe, and actually didn’t see it on 16, but I saw them, it was a group running to 16 at 6 a.m., and it was a bunch of bananas and then a gorilla,” Gooch said. “So that was the best, the gorilla chasing the bananas.”

News

With that all in mind, and the knowledge that Theegala is a 24-year-old rook on Tour who still lives at home with Mom and Dad, you’re right to wonder how he’ll hold up with Brooksie, Patty Ice, an Olympic gold medalist, bananas and a monkey hounding him. But know that not every dude can step up to an 18th green with a one-shot lead, toss a jersey over his head and win a tournament, days after your hero dies, minutes from where you live. That’s moxie. If you want to say that’s a bit like the player he was honoring, go for it. 

And there’s this. Mamba himself might be proud of this answer. Afterward, Theegala was asked about the finish to his first round on Friday morning, when he had played two holes and bogeyed both. 

To put it in basketball parlance, he just kept shooting. 

“Yeah, I wasn’t too upset about the way it started,” Theegala said. “Like I had a 15-footer to start the day, so I was like, OK, I just put a good roll on it and see what happens. I put a good roll, just missed.

“And the next tee shot, I put it under the lip of the fairway bunker, and I’m like, OK, I can’t do much about that, right? And I knew if I kept putting the ball in the fairway, I’m going to have scoring opportunities.”

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The post Sahith Theegala finally added this common club to his Ping setup appeared first on Golf.

The post Sahith Theegala finally added this common club to his Ping setup appeared first on Golf.

Unless you’re doing your best Phil Mickelson impression, circa 2013 Open Championship, a driver is part of the gear mix. Throw in a couple of fairway woods to launch the ball high and keep it in play; a hybrid to replace those unforgiving long irons; workable irons to throw darts all day; a trio (most likely) of reliable wedges; and a trusty putter to round out the dream setup.

No one is going to mistake your gear (or game) for what’s being used in the professional ranks, but one of the areas where amateurs and pros tend to be somewhat similar is in the set makeup department. Like most amateurs, the average pro is also probably carrying a driver, fairway wood(s), hybrid/driving iron, irons, wedges and a putter.

Exceptions exist, of course, but the above is the most common setup by a wide margin.

Up until the Sony Open, Tour rookie Sahith Theegala’s Ping gear setup didn’t fit into the conventional category. For years, the former three-time All-American at Pepperdine could never find a fairway wood that suited his eye — so he chose to get creative with the help of Ping’s tour staff.

“He’s toted around a club for a while that we call the ‘Frakenhybrid,’ which was really a strong-lofted G425 hybrid at standard length,” Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates told GOLF.com. “It was a 17-degree hybrid with the loft sleeve turned down to the flat minus setting to get the loft to 16 degrees. It ended up having driver-like launch conditions at 10 degrees with 2,600 RPMs of spin, and he was carrying it almost 280 yards. He uses it off tees and very rarely into the green. But he’s so long, he usually doesn’t have a bunch of long shots into greens anyway, so it never really mattered.

Gear

“The Frankenhybrid was there to fill that gap in his bag where a fairway wood would’ve gone. He just couldn’t find a fairway wood that worked, so instead of forcing one in there, he tried to find an alternative option — and it worked.”

Theegala used the Frankenhybrid and a Ping iBlade 2-iron to fill in the gap between his Ping G425 LST driver and iBlade 3-iron, but as he made the transition to the PGA Tour, it became apparent that having a club with a towering launch could be a nice-to-have.

At the RSM Classic, Theegala started the dialog by asking Oates and the rest of Ping’s Tour team to figure out a way to get a fairway wood that went 250 yards in the bag. A 7-wood was initially built, but it never fully stuck.

“He hit the thing solid,” Oates said, “but he just didn’t use it enough. The good that came from that trial run was that we had finally found a way to get a fairway wood in the bag.”

During the offseason, Theegala made a trip to Ping headquarters to figure out an option that checked all of the boxes. The time spent at the Ping Proving Grounds revealed the best club for the 24-year-old’s setup was a Ping G425 5-wood with some minor modifications.

“It says 5-wood on the head, but it’s built like a 4-wood,” Oates said. “It’s 42 inches and 15.5 degrees in the big minus sleeve setting.”

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With the 4-wood going in play at the Sony Open, a club had to be removed to get to 14. Instead of plucking Frankenhybrid from the setup, Theegala chose to keep it in the bag and remove the 2-iron, giving him two clubs that went very similar distances. Even with the similar carry distance the clubs produced, Theegala felt the setup gave him two options for very different on-course scenarios.

“These clubs do drastically different things,” Oates said. “Off the tee, I’d say the Frankenhybrid actually goes a little farther due to the lower spin, but because of the larger head on the 4-wood, he can hit some really cool shots that’ll come in handy. He can up spin and hit it 260 yards, or he can flatten it and push that thing 290 with the 4-wood. So he could, theoretically, hit the hybrid off the tee and the fairway wood into the green on a par-5, if the situation presented itself.

“It’s a pretty genius setup. It’s probably because he’s a feel player who can manufacturer a bunch of different shots, but he’s already told us he never gets in a situation where he’s stuck between clubs with the 4-wood in there. They hit such wildly different shots and have different roles. It’s always obvious which one he’s going to hit.”

It also doesn’t hurt that Theegala can hit his 4-iron 240 yards. In this case, having two clubs that go similar distances really is better than one.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2022? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below.

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1. Yellow Jackets go low

It was a rough day for Georgia Tech on the gridiron, but their golfers found much more success. Former Yellow Jackets Cameron Tringale and Seth Reeves carded the two lowest rounds of the day in Jackson, combining for a 19-under total between the two.

Tringale fired a bogey-free 62 that featured two eagles, while Reeves carded eight birdies and an eagle of his own to shoot a career-best 63.

The stellar sub-par rounds vaulted both of the former Yellow Jackets into the top 10 with Tringale T2 and Reeves T6 heading into Sunday. Each is searching for their first win on Tour.

2. Monday qualifier taking advantage

Grant Hirschman played his way into the field in Jackson courtesy of a 65 in the Monday qualifier to earn his second career PGA Tour start. And since earning his spot in the field, he’s taken advantage of the opportunity.

The Korn Ferry Tour member has gotten better every day at the Country Club of Jackson, opening with a two-under 70 and firing a 67 in Round 2. He continued that trend on Saturday as he carded a six-under 66 to reach 13 under and currently sits T16. In Hirschman’s only other Tour start, he finished T63 at the 2018 FedEx St. Jude Classic.

The former Oklahoma Sooner’s round was highlighted by a 135-yard hole out for eagle on the par-4 8th, one of seven sub-par holes on the day for the 26-year-old. If Hirschman can sneak into the top 10 on Sunday, he will earn a start in next week’s Shriner’s Children’s Open.

3. Rookie on top

Sahith Theegala earned his way into the Korn Ferry Finals by the slimmest of margins, eventually earning his PGA Tour card last month. Now that he’s got status, he’s looking to lock it down for many years to come via a win early in his first full season on Tour.

Theegala was bogey-free on Saturday as he fired five-under 67 for the second consecutive day. The 23-year-old used a strong back nine that featured four birdies to take the 54-hole lead in his second start of the young season.

“I really haven’t had time to think about it, it’s pretty wild,” Theegala said after the round. “Obviously really happy with how I ground that out.”

Theegla will play in the final group tomorrow as he looks to secure his first victory, and the two-year exemption that comes with it.

NEWSLETTER

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The post Nicklaus Award winner Sahith Theegala taking ‘Mamba mentality’ to the pro ranks appeared first on Golf.

On the first tee at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last week, Theegala had to repeatedly enunciate his name — for the starter, for the other players in his group, for one of the caddies: SAW-hith THEE-gala, always delivered with a smile.

“Even if they know how to pronounce it, they’ll ask me,” Theegala said in a phone interview earlier this week. “It’s funny how many people find ways to add letters or syllables.”

If Theegala has the same success in the professional ranks that he did in college, it won’t be long before the whole golf world knows his name. The three-time NCAA All-American at Pepperdine officially wrapped up his college career Tuesday when he was named the Division I Nicklaus Award winner, adding to the Ben Hogan and Haskins awards he claimed in the spring. In a sign of the times, Theegala accepted the honor Tuesday by way of Zoom. He called in from his parents’ house in Chino Hills, Calif., joining the session with the four other Nicklaus Award winners, plus the Golden Bear himself.

Such is life for a young player turning pro in the midst of a pandemic.

Theegala, 22, played his first two PGA Tour events as a professional this past month, at the Travelers Championship and Rocket Mortgage Classic, missing the cut by four strokes and three strokes, respectively. At his side was Michael Beard, his coach at Pepperdine and temporary caddie. Beyond that, his debut was shared with his loved ones at a social distance, by way of ShotLink tracking and an iPhone.

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“More than anything I envisioned my family and friends being there supporting me,” Theegala said. “I’ve made this journey with them. To play the first couple without them kinda felt a little empty to me.”

That’s the PGA Tour right now. It’s quiet out there, especially for a newbie who just said goodbye to his Pepperdine teammates of five years (the Waves were ranked No. 1 in the country before the coronavirus shutdown). Theegala admitted that within that emptiness at the Travelers he tried too hard to “fit in,” grinding to sharpen every last edge of his game. Arrival Sunday; practice rounds Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; practice on top of more practice. The schedule wore him out. 

“On Friday I was just beat. I was like, ‘This is not how it’s supposed to feel,’” Theegala said. “It’s not that I beat a bunch of balls, but I just feel like I was out there too long because it’s just available.” It’s a common trap for young players: the endless pursuit of perfection meets the Law of Diminishing Returns. 

Truth is, Theegala has thrived by being himself: an Indian-American, a study of his idol Kobe Bryant and an exceptional “feel” player. When his flatstick wasn’t working in Detroit last week, Theegala flipped from a cross-hand grip (left hand low) to traditional style on the 6th hole — just like that, mid-tournament, during one of a precious few Tour starts he’ll make in 2020.

“I was putting terrible,” he says. “So I was like, ‘All right, let’s switch up the feel.’ I just go back and forth depending on, literally, how I’m feeling.” After making the switch, he promptly dropped an 11-footer for birdie. 

It’s an approach Theegala has taken, off and on, since high school, and it epitomizes how his parents raised him. Theegala says he was always urged to enjoy the game first, and follow it where it takes him. When wrist surgery in January 2019 left him unable to comfortably grip the putter traditionally, cross-hand putting took hold. In two weeks, at the 3M Open (his next sponsor’s exemption), he might be back to traditional. Whatever feels right in the moment.

Raised in SoCal, Theegala was a tall kid — he’s now 6-foot-3 — with a solid jump shot, so he gravitated toward Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Though golf eventually won him over, Theegala didn’t take his cues from Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, like so many other elite young players.

His mindset was and is rooted in Bryant’s legacy.

“I have always said that if I could get a little percentage of his Mamba Mentality, I would be great,” said Theegala, who won the Southwestern Invitational earlier this year donning a Bryant jersey. “I still don’t think I’ve even succeeded in getting 10 percent of that. I don’t think anyone will. The guy just had insane willpower … but I definitely keep that in the back of my mind. Especially when times are tough.”

Perhaps that’s why Theegala was grinding early in the week at the Travelers Championship, because times will get tough. They always do, even for the most gifted collegiate players. Norman Xiong was the can’t-miss prospect in 2018 coming out of the University of Oregon. He, too, won the Nicklaus Award and was unfairly compared to Tiger Woods. Xiong has notched just one top 20 in the last two years. Nothing is guaranteed for these players, no matter how many awards they win.

As Theegala competed in the first round of the Rocket Mortgage, 25 other players and caddies were on the putting green, prepping for the first round, all of them white. While the lack of diversity in pro golf isn’t something Theegala dwells on, he did recently tell The New York Times, “Hopefully there is some inspiration behind that, for people who watch me and realize that you don’t have to be the stereotypical white golfer.”

“Coming out of this year, I think [diversity] is going to change moving forward,” Theegala told GOLF.com. “It’s cool seeing guys like Harold Varner step out during a crazy time like this and just speak his mind. I think that’s inspiring so many people.”

Theegala added that he’s hopeful that he, too, can be impactful in terms of changing the demographics of golf.

“It’s not something like, ‘Oh, wow. You play golf?’” he said. “Instead it’s like, ‘Oh, nice! You play golf.’”

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