Sahith Theegala would have gotten away with it on Saturday afternoon.
Instead, Theegala called himself out for a penalty and kept his conscience clean.
Theegala posted a 5-under 66 on Saturday in the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. His round included a self-imposed two-shot penalty after he said he grounded his club in a fairway bunker early in the afternoon.
The remarkable thing, however, was that nobody — not even the cameras — noticed the infraction.
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
“I wouldn’t be able to sleep [if I didn’t call the penalty],” Theegala said.
Theegala landed his tee shot on the third hole at East Lake in a fairway bunker. His ball landed on the slope of the bunker, and he had a pretty good lie for his approach shot — which he hit clean down toward the green.
But immediately after hitting his shot, Theegala called over playing partner Xander Schauffele and the rules official. He felt the smallest bit of sand move on his backswing.
“It was a very little amount of sand,” Theegala said. “I can say that with full honesty and clarity … It’s too hard to tell because of the shadows and my club. You couldn’t see any sand come up. That’s how little sand we’re talking about. I think it literally just brushed down the hill about that much. But yeah, I wish I could see it on video. I’m still going to sleep great.”
Theegala ended up carding a double bogey on the hole, which brought him back to 1-over for the day. He still dropped well under par thanks to seven birdies on his back nine, including five straight to end his day. That moved him to 17-under on the week and into solo third.
While he’s still nine shots back from Scottie Scheffler, Theegala is currently on pace for a massive $7.5 million payday for his finish in the final PGA Tour playoff event.
Theegala picked up his first career Tour win last year at the Fortinet Championship. He’s had seven top-10 finishes this season, including a pair of runner-up finishes, and he earned a spot on the U.S. Presidents Cup team.
Even though his move may have pushed him too far back to make a legitimate run at Scheffler’s lead and the FedEx Cup on Sunday, Theegala is more than happy with his decision to call a penalty on himself.
“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. I’m in the 90% that I thought I moved some 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.”
