As the lucrative PGA Tour Championship draws ever close to an end, the stakes get higher and higher with every shot taken, as the PGA's top 30 golfers play for millions of dollars every time they line up a shot.
That's why it was so surprising when American golfer Sahith Theegala showed incredible sportsmanship and called a costly penalty on himself for an infringement that seemed indistinguishable to the naked eye.
After carding an impressive 67 and 66 in the opening two rounds, Theegala was more than in contention for the championship heading into the third round.
However, disaster struck on Moving Day when Theegala found himself stuck in the bunker on the third hole. After taking what appeared to be an impressive recovery to the naked eye, Theegala informed both his playing partner and the rules official that he might have moved a couple of grains of sand.
After some deliberation and a failed attempt to find comprehensive TV footage, Theegala was handed a seemingly harsh two-stroke penalty, costing himself a double bogey and potentially millions of dollars in prize money.
Sahith Theegala self-reported a two-stroke penalty for touching the sand with his club during his backswing.
He currently moves from -13 to -11, but will have the opportunity to review the penalty with a rules official following his round. pic.twitter.com/rLAgGJGZ5c
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 31, 2024
Theegala praised for incredibly honest interview post-Tour Championship penalty
If calling the costly and seemingly indistinguishable penalty was not enough evidence of the type of golfer and person Sahith Theegala is, well then his explanation for why he called the penalty definitely did the job.
Speaking to reporters after his round, Theegala explained that he had only seen 'a few grains of sand move'. Yes, 'a few grains.
So it was a very unusual lie. It was teed up in the sand. It was a really nice lie. So it was an unusual lie, 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. In my peripheral, I thought I saw some of the sand move as I took my backswing.
Immediately after I hit it -- I hit it, great contact, great shot, talked to Xander about it. I was like, hey, dude, I think I moved some sand while I hit that shot, and we thought that it was no big deal because there was no intent, didn't feel like -- it didn't actually change the lie at all. But unfortunately, the rule is it doesn't matter the intent. If you change the lie in the direct area around the ball that could affect your swing, it is a two-shot penalty.
I'm in the 90s percent that I thought I moved some sand. I'd sleep a lot better if I saw some clear image of me moving the sand. I really think I did move the sand. It's just an unfortunate rule. But what are you going to do, take the two shots on the chin and just roll with it.
But (I'm) pretty sure I breached 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'd say I'm 98, 99 percent sure that some sand was moved...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.
“Your intuition as a golfer is very rarely wrong.”
Sahith Theegala reflects on his self-reported two-stroke penalty this afternoon. https://t.co/vfnGhCvEOU pic.twitter.com/InprR9GOc4
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 31, 2024
Considering Theegala had taken a two-shot penalty for something officials could find no clear evidence of, Theegala showed incredible sportsmanship to call the penalty on himself, despite both he and his partner regarding it as inconsequential.
Fortunately having overcome the tribulations of the third hole, Theegala's form didn't suffer at all as he stormed around the remainder of the course, recording just one more bogey and adding seven birdies to the one he got on the 2nd.
His resilient third-round comeback saw him finish the day on 66, five under par, and third in the overall leaderboard heading into the final day.
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