On the road with Sahith Theegala superfans who drove 5,000-plus miles for FedExCup Playoffs alone

NAPA, Calif. – The retirement years can be complicated, what with 401(k) and Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the cost-of-living index and pickleball rules.

Then there’s the interstate traffic as you try to keep the rubber side down as your favorite player, Sahith Theegala, toggles between 30th and 31st in the FedExCup standings, your destination hanging in the balance just like his.

Such was the dilemma facing Theegala superfans Jeffie and Rick Mackey as they drove south from last year’s BMW Championship in Chicago. They delighted at his three straight late birdies, but a bogey at the last sealed Theegala’s fate: He finished 31st and would not qualify for the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The Mackeys stopped refreshing their phones, veered west off I-65, and headed home to New Mexico.

For some, fandom means enduring down seasons and questionable signings, but for Jeffie and Rick, it means more than that. This year they attended, among other tournaments, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, THE PLAYERS Championship (Jeffie’s favorite), The Masters Tournament and the RBC Heritage.

Then – someone call the auto club! – came their FedExCup Playoffs bender, a "Cannonball Run"-like spree in which they drove some 5,100 miles: Las Cruces, New Mexico, to Memphis (FedEx St. Jude Championship), Tennessee, to Denver (BMW Championship) to Atlanta (TOUR Championship) and back to Las Cruces. And, lo and behold, Theegala not only got to East Lake (he was never in doubt), but he finished a career-best third at the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup.

“People can’t believe it when they hear what we’re doing,” said Jeffie, who splits the driving with her husband as they spread the miles over two late-model cars. “It’s just been so much fun because we both enjoy travel so much and we’ve gotten to see the United States.”

Theegala smiles in wonderment at their dedication.

“Jeffie is a sweetheart,” he said from the Procore Championship at Silverado Resort, where he will make his first PGA TOUR title defense this week. “They basically just hang out with their grandkids and watch me golf when they can.”

If their hobby seems odd, consider first that Jeffie and Rick are retired. Also, chasing the TOUR around with the focus on one player is no more unusual than ticking off college football stadiums, another of their passions. (Rick, especially, loves the game). And it’s decidedly less zany than chasing eclipses, tornadoes, or ghosts.

Also, there’s this:

Jeffie, 68, taught at Canyon Hills Junior High in Chino Hills, California, which didn’t have a golf team until she and a fellow PE teacher started one. The kids were mostly just learning the rules, but one was miles beyond that: Theegala, then age 12.

“We were told by another coach who had a child on the Southern California circuit,” Jeffie said with a smile. “They said, ‘You know who you have there?’”

Theegala, a Southern California junior golf prodigy, would go on to excel at every level, from Pepperdine to the PGA TOUR. Jeffie and Rick, a retired police officer, would see much of it, including Theegala’s 100th PGA TOUR start, which coincided with the 60th birthday party for Murli Theegala, Sahith’s father, at the TOUR Championship two weeks ago.

“I can’t thank them enough,” said Murli, who has made the Mackeys almost honorary family members.

After Theegala makes his title defense at the Procore, he’ll relish his first time wearing the red, white and blue for the U.S. Team at the Presidents Cup. Jeffie and Rick, who will miss the Procore for the second year in a row, this time to attend a memorial service for Jeffie’s aunt, will fly to Montreal for the Presidents Cup.

“We’re just so proud of him,” said Rick, formerly of the Pomona Police Department in California.

Added Jeffie, still on a high from the TOUR Championship, “Everything went right for him at East Lake; he was a birdie machine. I think I’m going to start calling that back nine, 'Theegala Road.'”

Well, sure, they know roads. Their travels sometimes reconnect them with family, most recently as they drove their silver Ford Edge (just 25,000 miles on the odometer) from Memphis to Denver. They took a minor detour north to Cheyenne, Wyoming, to see Jeffie’s sister. They also got an oil change.

Following Theegala on TOUR is just one of their passions. Their two kids and two grandkids, plus Jeffie’s parents, live back in Southern California, where the Mackeys keep a second home. They like traveling to Europe and were in Germany when Theegala won in Napa last year. They bring their clubs on the road and play a little golf.

But there are tournaments they haven’t seen, among them the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. They would like to go to a U.S. Open. What’s more, it would seem hard to quit now, what with Theegala still seemingly on the rise.

How long will they keep doing this?

“You know, we're getting older,” Jeffie said. “As long as we can move, I think we'll keep going.”