Sahith Theegala hits a shot Saturday on the 7th hole at East Lake Golf Club.
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Sahith Theegala says he was “98, 99 percent sure” he was breaking the law.
And he was 100 percent sure what would happen if he kept quiet about it.
“Oh, I couldn't sleep,” said Theegala.
His interview with reporters on Saturday after the third round of the Tour Championship capped a series of wild events for the 26-year-old professional, who appeared to have earned a lot of respect for his honesty, and maybe even a feeling of frustration with the dollars that could cost him. The moment in question came on the 4th hole of East Lake Golf Club, after Theegala dropped his tee shot into the fairway bunker.
There, Theegala said, his ball hit the sand, rolled to the edge of the bed, then returned to the ground, before landing in its original place. “So it was an unusual lie,” he said. “Mud was added to the sand. It was a really good lie.” From there, from 145 yards from the hole, Theegala sank his second shot 39 feet. But something was wrong with him.
He said he had been trying to hit the ball, and his movement to do so required him to “sweep it back down” – which is when he believed he connected with the sand, which is a no-no under Rule 8.1a (4). That rule reads as follows: The player must not do any of these steps if they improve the conditions affecting the stroke: 4. Remove or press sand or loose soil. Astute observers may recall that Patrick Reed was upset about this at the 2019 Hero World Challenge, where, while preparing for a shot in the green, Reed took his club away from his ball during several swings and brushed sand off the back of his ball twice. .
On Saturday, shortly after the shooting, Theegala said he spoke to his teammate, Xander Schauffele.
“I was like, hey, man, I think I moved the sand when I hit that shot,” Theegala said, “and we thought it was no big deal because there was no intention, it didn't feel like it—it didn't happen. t actually change lies at all.
“But unfortunately the law says that the intention does not matter. If you change a lie in a straight area near the ball that may affect your swing, two goals penalties.”
It seems that's what he heard about the official rules when the players were green. But Theegala also wondered: indeed did you see the movement of the sand? Was he right when he accepted the sentence? Maybe he had seen something else. Perhaps the NBC broadcast will shed some light – but he told reporters that the camera angle given was “too far from the ball and almost reversed. It was really hard to see.”
However, in the end, he said that he almost removed the sand, and he almost lost his decision.
Pro, who is in contention for the $25 million prize, called himself 2 penalties
Jack Hirsh
“At the end of the day, I've played a lot of golf. You can just trust your intuition and your gut, and at that moment I thought I should move the sand there,” said Theegala. “I'm in the 90s when I thought I moved sand. I can sleep much better if I can see a clear picture of myself moving sand.
“I think I really removed the sand. It's just an unfortunate rule. But what will you do? Take two shots to the chin and roll with them. But yeah, it was just unfortunate. But I did – I definitely broke the rules, so I'm paying the price for it, and I feel good about it. Like I said, I'm not 100 percent sure. But I would say I'm 98 percent, 99 percent sure that some sand was moved.
I just played a lot of golf. You spend most of your life staring at the lie you have, the ball you have, and it doesn't sound like a fairway bunker shot. It felt like some sand was moving. At the end of the day, I'm fine with the decision, and I think it's okay for me to be tested twice.”
Did Theegala have any idea how much sand he might have touched?
Grains, he said.
“If you think about it, if you hit something on your back and you feel anything, you're going to stop and reset,” Theegala said. “Imagine you're in the middle — you have a low lie and you cut a piece of grass, like that stops your club a little bit. The amount of sand that was behind this ball, as if I hit a significant amount, as if I would have stopped and I would have thought that it was not a penalty and I would not have been penalized. It's the same except my ball is still there.
“So it was very little sand. I can say that with complete honesty and clarity. It wasn't too much sand. I don't think they promote falsehood at all. I shouldn't say that. Some sand moved; maybe it improved it. But it was behind. … It is very difficult to say because of the shadow with my team. You couldn't see any sand coming up. That is the sand we are talking about. I think it's just going downhill from there.”
Remarkably, after a two-stroke penalty assessment – and following a self-explanatory burst showing a water bottle being thrown – Theegala rallied. He birdied the next hole with a 12-foot putt, then fired a back-9 30 that included seven birdies. On Sunday, he will start the final round in third place, nine behind leader Scottie Scheffler.
However, here you can start doing the math. The Tour Championship, the PGA Tour's season-ending event, doles out serious money. First you pay $25 million. The second is paying $12.5 million. Third he gets $7.5 million. Fourth at $6 million. Five million dollars. Sixth at $3.5 million. Dropped shots are expensive. Like penalties.
It doesn't matter, said Theegala.
On Saturday night, a reporter asked him if he would have had a bad night's sleep if he hadn't called the penalty – to which he replied that he never would.
“I was explaining the situation – no matter what the outcome was, I needed to know what the real law was,” Theegala said. “Although Xander and I were thinking that whatever, it's okay, you touched a grain of sand, you didn't mean to remove it, you're fine. I decided to call the official rules right away on that green. But anyway, I would have asked the rules officials after the round, and, or somehow I found out what the rules were, and if I didn't ask the rules officials and I went home and looked at the rules – it was still there. in my mind.
“Also, intuition, it was as if I was moving the sand. It was always in my mind. If I went back after the round, I looked at that and found out that two penalties, I'd be DQ'd right now. So I'm glad I brought it up right away. I know the rules of golf better now. There are many silly things you can do in the basement. You can put the club in the basement, you can literally stand – you can use your golf club as a stand in the basement. As long as it's not near your ball.
“There are many things you can do. But unfortunately if it's in an area that affects the lie and swing of your gun, no matter what your aim is, it's a two-shot penalty.”
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