By Rahul Banerji
Twice in the last five months, Indian-American golfer Sahith Theegala Reddy has been in a position to force a maiden PGA Tour victory.
He has missed out both times, but those who have been keeping an eye on the young man say it’s a matter of time before that day arrives.
On Sunday, at the Travellers Championship, the 24-year-old double-bogeyed his final hole to concede the lead – and title – to Tokyo Olympic champion Xander Schauffele.
It was a heartbreak moment for Theegala and brought back memories of the Phoenix Open in February when he fell out of the lead with two holes to go.
At TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, Theegala was even closer to that breakthrough moment, leading the field by two shots on the 18th tee.
From there he drilled his drive into a fairway bunker.
Fatal mistake
It took two shots to come out of the sand, and Theegala (67-65-64-67, 263) then had to watch his bogey putt lip out for a 17-under total.
It gave Schauffele (63-63-67-68, 261) in the chasing flight the opening he needed to seal his sixth career PGA Tour title. The Olympic champion birdied 18 for a two-shot win over Theegala and J.T. Poston (62-70-67-64, 263).
“Never in a million years did I think I would allow myself to blade it,” Theegala was quoted as saying of the first bunker shot that didn’t get out of the sand.
“All I had to do was chunk it. We even said, like, this is a 50/50 ball in terms of I got to try and just basically hit it just a hair behind it.
“Somehow … I just straight bladed it.
“I had room there. I don’t know how it looked, but I had room there. Just didn’t think I would let myself blade it.”
And of the missed putt, he added, “Hit a perfect putt. Somehow it just broke left at the end and lipped out there.”
It still gave the Indian-American with roots in Hyderabad, a best-ever finish on Tour.
“I played so much good golf this week. A lot of my bogeys and doubles were just really like weird mistakes.
“I’ll have more time to reflect obviously, but there’s going to be a ton of positives for sure.”
More changes
Meanwhile, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said during the week the tour would return to a calendar-year schedule in 2024.
He also announced a series of eight tournaments with greatly enhanced purses mirroring the LIV Golf model and a clump of event-related changes clearly aimed at fending off the Saudi-funded raid on the PGA Tour.
“While different than it’s been in the past, I think it’s going to be very exciting for fans and I think will create great energy in the fall,” pgatour.com quoted Monahan as saying.
Also prize purses in eight events were almost doubled in some cases, giving weight to suggestions that the PGA Tour had cash to spare and was laying it out now to keep its flock in order.
“There is more work to be done and details to confirm,” Monahan said.
“…Implementing substantial changes to our schedule gives us the best opportunity to not only drive earnings to our players, but also improve our product and create a platform for continued growth in the future.”
And in related news, the Telegraph has said that Matthew Wolff will be the next crossover to the LIV Golf Invitational Series from the PGA Tour.
ESPN too ran with the news on the 23-year-old, whose career has hit a sudden dip after a meteoric start three years ago when he won his first and only title.
Wolff is planning to play in this week’s LIV Golf tournament at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, Oregon, the first to take place in the United States, ESPN added.
Also read: Sponsor invitee Theegala eclipses big guns to lead Phoenix Open
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.