Sahith Theegala calls two-shot penalty on himself at TOUR Championship

ATLANTA – Bobby Jones once famously said, “You may as well praise a man for not robbing a bank,” after he was commended for calling a penalty for himself.

At the course where Jones grew up, Sahith Theegala exhibited similar sportsmanship on Saturday. Theegala called a two-stroke penalty on the third hole of the TOUR Championship’s third round after moving sand in a greenside bunker. The penalty resulted in a double-bogey.

“It was an unusual lie,” Theegala said, “and I usually pick up the club and take it back, but because of the lie, right on my backswing, I felt like I moved a few grains of sand for sure.

“I've played so much golf. You kind of just trust your intuition and gut, and right away I thought I moved some sand there.”

Theegala was still unsure whether it was a penalty, given there was no intent. But after consulting with playing partner Xander Schauffele, Theegala called for a rules official who confirmed it was a penalty regardless of intent.

“It was just unfortunate. But I did -- pretty sure I breached the rules, so I'm paying the price for it, and I feel good about it,” Theegala said. “... At the end of the day I'm good with the ruling, and I think it's very fair that I was assessed two shots.”

Theegala bounced back admirably from the infraction, playing the rest of the front nine in even-par before catching fire on the back. He finished with seven birdies in his last eight holes to card a 5-under 66 despite the penalty. Theegala is solo third at 17-under, nine shots back of Scheffler. Theegala is four shots behind Collin Morikawa in second and one shot ahead of Xander Schauffele.

Those two shots will loom large on Sunday as Theegala pursues the FedExCup. Theegala is nine shots back and one of only three players within 10 shots of Scheffler. It would be historic if Theegala overcame that deficit. The largest final-round comeback in TOUR Championship history (since the Starting Strokes format), was Rory McIlroy’s six-shot comeback over Scheffler in 2022.

There is still plenty on the line for Theegala. The difference in prize money between second and third place is $5 million ($12.5 million for second; $7.5 million for third).

“My caddie, Carl, kept telling me that I've been playing awesome,” Theegala said. “Just keep doing your thing. Two shots is a lot, but at the end of the day you've got a lot more golf to play. Tried to use it as a positive.”