Sahith Theegala finds fairway, hits new heights

Sahith Theegala didn’t know where he was.

But once he got used to being there, in the fairway, he enjoyed a career-best campaign that proved he was meant to be there all along.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Theegala, whose stark transformation off the tee this year has made him one of the most improved players on the PGA TOUR.

The spotlight at this week’s Presidents Cup at The Royal Montreal Golf Club will shine brightest on world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Xander Schauffele, who had the best and second-best seasons as they distanced themselves from the pack. But they’ve played in the Presidents Cup and/or Ryder Cup, as has most every other member of the U.S. team.

Just two Americans, Russell Henley and Theegala – the latter of whom shot from 134th to 22nd in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, went from 172nd to 91st in Driving Accuracy, and finished a career-best third in the FedExCup – have never played on a major U.S. team as a professional.

And only Theegala, who led the field in birdies at the TOUR Championship at East Lake, has gone from 37th to 11th in the Official World Golf Ranking over the last year, making this one of the most highly anticipated debuts by any player in Montreal.

“I like what he does,” Justin Thomas said. “It's similar to how I play, very feel. He's not scared to aim 40, 50 yards left and hit a huge slice out there. He has unbelievable hands, unbelievable touch, and obviously great instincts to where it's not necessarily – I'm sure he has certain fundamentals or things that he checks, but it's more about, 'Am I getting the ball in the hole as quick as possible or am I hitting the fairway however I can?' Not, 'Is it some certain position?'

“I like that about him,” Thomas added, “and 100 percent, he's got all the shots.”

Theegala himself is not blind to how far he’s come.

“I cannot wait,” he said. “There's a hundred guys on TOUR that would take my spot in a heartbeat and never give it up. And I know I'm going to be super nervous, but I'm just going to embrace everything. It's going to be really enjoyable to get to know the guys better and get to know their better halves better and – just see how that all works.

“It's a pretty lonely game out here sometimes,” he added. “And to have that team chemistry and that closeness for that whole week, I think we're gonna make some friends for life. And, the golf, in a weird way – after the first few holes – I think it will be the easy part.”

And that’s precisely it, the explanation for how Theegala got here. How he made this team on points, how he finished third at the TOUR Championship despite calling a two-stroke penalty on himself in Round 3 for brushing some bunker sand on his backswing. (You’ll have to take his word for it; the infraction was not visible to the naked eye.) Golf is easy now, or at least easier.

Because sure, Theegala is an artist, and yes, he can bend it 50 yards around a pesky oak. But the artist has now found structure, which in any generative act, even golf, is the sweet spot.

Turning a cut into a fade

Theegala has scoliosis, or curvature of the spine. This led to the problem of too much side bend on the downswing, to potentially disastrous effect with the driver. Unless he timed it perfectly, he was often wild off the tee. He’d become borderline fatalistic about it.

“I almost felt hopeless to a certain extent,” Theegala said. “I just felt like I'm never going to be an elite driver of the ball, and I was OK with it.”

What saved him was that he was so good in all other facets. He shaped shots around trees, under branches, over houses – think a modern-day Seve Ballesteros. Additionally, Theegala could get up and down from anywhere, and his putting was above average. When he broke through with his first TOUR win at the Procore Championship in the fall of 2023, he was 40th in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee, T46 in Driving Accuracy and second in Strokes Gained: Putting.

What changed was indeed a long time coming and resulted from Theegala’s work with Rick Hunter, his swing coach since age 6, and trainer Josh Loyo. They collaborated to strengthen Theegala’s base and core, addressing limitations that were causing him to succumb to too much lateral side bend on the downswing, his body almost collapsing in transition.

“For me it’s always been about stabilizing his lower body (stronger) and allowing him to be more rotary vs. a lateral mover,” Loyo said via text. “Obviously we don’t want to lose that lateral component because that’s a big part of his triggers in his swing, but not allowing it to break down his swing. Sahith has put so much more emphasis on his body, and it’s paid off.”

It was a gradual process, Loyo added, although it didn’t look gradual this year. Theegala could finally make the changes in his transition that Hunter had wanted him to make all along. No longer was he getting stuck on the transition, necessitating a flip of the hands lest he hit another wildly off-target tee shot, and he found more fairways than ever by a wide margin.

“I just became a little more diligent with that stuff,” Theegala said of his gym work. “And part of it is also getting better with my 3-iron and a 4-wood off the tee. You know, those clubs have always been OK for me – 3-iron especially has been good for me.

“And I was like, why not really, really make it into a weapon?” he continued. “So, I added a couple new shots. A lot of them being lower shots.”

While this initially led to back pain, he figured out a way to painlessly hit a stinger that would be less likely to be blown off course by the wind.

Meanwhile, Hunter implored Theegala to tone down the crazy shots; instead of aiming for the left rough and hitting a hard cut, he was to aim down the left side of the fairway and play a fade.

It would also be OK, the coach added, if he wanted to hit it straight every so often.

“When he was 13, he had a beautiful, classic swing, and all of a sudden, things changed because of his back,” Hunter said. “All I could do was help him with tempo. He would transition and crunch too much, and that’s when things got all over the place.

“Not until he turned pro three years ago did he really take fitness seriously,” Hunter added. “Josh and I teamed up on him. I said, ‘Josh, I can’t get Sahith to turn through the ball; can you help him turn the corner and rotate on back through the ball?’ That’s been a big, big help.”

Getting used to the new normal

Never a paint-by-numbers guy, Theegala was so comfortable playing from the rough, where he manufactured shots, that it took him a while to get used to the short grass.

What was he doing out there? And if he was hitting fairways, shouldn’t he be winning?

“It almost caught me off-guard,” said Theegala, who admits he hit some shockingly poor wedge and short-iron shots. “I was playing from the fairway more than I ever have.”

His caddie, Carl Smith, spent less time looking for balls but also had to help his boss adjust.

“It was almost like a blessing and a curse,” Smith said. “He was not used to playing as much out of the fairway as we did, so there were moments of frustration with it. You feel like every hole you have an opportunity, and maybe you don't hit a couple of wedges close, so …

“It’s funny; yes, in some cases, it was easier,” Smith continued. “But then at times it also led to frustration because the attitude was, 'Well, goodness, now we’re out of the fairway more often and therefore I should just be playing better all the time.'”

It all came together at the TOUR Championship, which was surprising, to say the least.

Theegala had injured his hand at the BMW Championship at Denver’s Castle Pines, where he missed the pro-am and required physical therapy just to be able to complete the tournament. He came in last among the 48 players who finished all four rounds.

He was still getting therapy on his hand at the TOUR Championship when he went to retrieve some clothes from his car and wrenched his back. Loyo worked on him that afternoon, but between his hand and back, Theegala still seemed iffy for Round 1 the next day.

“I looked at him right before he was supposed to tee off,” Hunter said, “and I said, ‘Forget what your body is doing. Just go play golf. That’s how you play best, anyway.’ And look what happened. He made 29 birdies. It’s the best overall week he’s played on TOUR.”

After starting the tournament seven behind top-seeded Scheffler, Theegala shot 21-under par, besting everyone but Collin Morikawa in the gross division.

“I’ve watched a lot of golf,” said Smith, who has caddied on the PGA TOUR for 10 years, “and at the TOUR Championship, it's probably some of the best golf I've seen. Not just him playing golf. It was some of the best golf I've seen anyone play.”

Told of this assessment, Theegala smiled, allowing that yes, it was his best.

In his title defense at the Procore in Napa, he was paired with Wyndham Clark and Max Homa. Those guys missed the cut; Theegala made it easily and finished T7. For the week, he hit more fairways than he had in victory the year before – seventh in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee – but was cold on the greens, only 31st in SG: Putting.

He'll want the total package for Royal Montreal and his Presidents Cup debut. As he steps out onto one of the biggest stages of his career, he’ll be cheered by Hunter, Loyo, Smith and his usual throng of supporters, led by his parents and extended family.

“He’s an entertainer and loves to compete,” Hunter said. “He wants the biggest games.”

Theegala, man of the fairway, is right where he’s meant to be.