Sahith Reddy Theegala (born December 4, 1997) is an American professional golfer who plays on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

Early life

Theegala was born in 1997 in Fullerton, California, to Muralidhar and Karuna Theegala and has a younger brother. He is of Indian descent, with his family immigrating to the United States from Telangana, India in the late 1980s.

Amateur career

Theegala was a three-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

All-American at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...

. In his final year at Pepperdine, Theegala won the Southwestern Invitational, the Alister MacKenzie Invitational, and the

Australian Master of the Amateurs The Australian Master of the Amateurs is an amateur golf tournament. It is a four-day 72-hole stroke play event held in early January. The men's event started in 1997 with the women's event added in 2018. The event was originally called the Master ...

. His collegiate career was cut short by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, which forced the 2020 season to end early, with his

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...

team ranked first in the nation. In 2020, Theegala won the

Haskins Award The Haskins Award is presented annually by the Haskins Commission to honor the most outstanding collegiate golfer in the United States. The award is named in memory of Fred Haskins, former golf teaching professional at the Country Club of Columbus ...

, the Ben Hogan Award, and the Jack Nicklaus Award, becoming just the fifth person ever to win all three awards in the same year.

Professional career

Theegala made his professional debut in June 2020 at the Outlaw Tour's Lone Tree Classic, where he tied for third place. He finished T-14 at the 2020

Safeway Open The Fortinet Championship, previously the Safeway Open, is a professional golf tournament, part of the PGA Tour. Originally sponsored by Fry's Electronics, it was first staged in 2007 as the Fry's Electronics Open at Grayhawk Golf Club's Raptor ...

on the

. He finished T-19 at his first

Korn Ferry Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

event, the 2021

Chitimacha Louisiana Open The Chitimacha Louisiana Open was a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour from 1992 to 2022. It was played annually at Le Triomphe Golf and Country Club in Broussard, Louisiana. The 2022 purse was $750,000, with $135,000 going to the winner. ...

. 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 The Korn Ferry Tour Finals is a series of three golf tournaments that serve as a means of earning PGA Tour membership for the following season ("Tour cards"). The series, which until 2019 consisted of four tournaments, replaced the PGA Tour Qualif ...

in 2021. He then finished T-4 at

Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship The Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship is a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour. It was played for the first time in July 2007 at The Ohio State University Golf Club's Scarlet Course in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Jack Nicklaus Ja ...

and 6th at

Korn Ferry Tour Championship The Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance is the year-end golf tournament of the Korn Ferry Tour. It has been played at a variety of courses; starting in 2019 it will be played at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburg ...

. 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 The Sanderson Farms Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually in Mississippi. It moved to the Country Club of Jackson in Jackson in autumn 2014, early in the 2015 season. The tournament has been part of the P ...

in October 2021. He finished third at the WM Phoenix Open in February 2022. He finished seventh at the

Valspar Championship The Valspar Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, northwest of Tampa, Florida. History The tournament was founded in 2000 as ...

in March 2022. In June 2022, Theegala tied for second in the

Travelers Championship Traveler(s), traveller(s), The Traveler(s), or The Traveller(s) may refer to: People Generic terms *One engaged in travel *Explorer, one who searches for the purpose of discovery of information or resources *Nomad, a member of a community withou ...

. At the end of the 2021–22 season, Theegala made the

Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 m ...

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 The RSM Classic is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played in the autumn in Georgia. It debuted in October 2010 on St. Simons Island, Georgia St. Simons Island (or simply St. Simons) is a barrier island and census-designated place (CDP) loca ...

in November 2022, two shots behind winner

Adam Svensson Adam Svensson (born December 31, 1993) is a Canadian professional golfer. Amateur career Svensson was born in Surrey, British Columbia to Frank Svensson and Tina Nilsson and attended Earl Marriott Secondary School. He spent six years with the Na ...

. He continued his season with a tied-for-sixth finish at the

Genesis Invitational The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually in ...

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.

Personal life

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

Amateur wins

*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 The Sahalee Players Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 1992 at the Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. The event will not be played from 2020 to 2022 and will return in 2023 as a collegiate eve ...

*2018 Waves Challenge *2019 SCGA Amateur Championship, Alister MacKenzie Invitational *2020

, Southwestern Invitational Source:

Professional wins (2)

PGA Tour wins (1)

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the halfway cut
NT = No tournament due to

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Arnold Palmer Cup The Arnold Palmer Cup is an annual team golf competition for college/university golfers. From 2018 it has been contested between a United States team and an International team representing the rest of the world. The teams consist of 12 men and 12 ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

(winners) Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Theegala, Sahith American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Pepperdine Waves men's golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from California Sportspeople from Orange, California American people of Indian descent 1997 births Living people