Intuition and a lack of sleep were among the reasons why Sahith Theegala called a two-shot penalty on himself at the Tour Championship.
During his third round in the final event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs at East Lake, Theegala told a referee that he moved some sand on his backswing in a fairway bunker on the par-4 3rd hole which is against the rules.
Rule 12.2b states when touching sand in a bunker with a club in a practice swing or in making a backswing for a stroke, there is a penalty. Despite what appeared minimal movement of sand in the hazard based on video evidence, Theegala informed his playing partner Xander Schauffele and the rules official of what he felt happened in Atlanta.
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Sahith Theegala ruling incident at East Lake a result of his own honesty
He explained the whole situation to the press after coming off the 18th hole:
“So my version of it was I was in the bunker, took my backswing, and to give context, I threw it in the bunker right on the lip; ball rolled up the lip and came back right on top of where it pitched. 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 – 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 – it didn’t actually change the lie at all.
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“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. At the end of the day, I’ve played so much golf.
“You just trust your intuition and gut, and right away I thought I moved some sand there. I’m in the 90s per cent 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.”
His par was turned into a double-bogey, a stain on an otherwise flawless scorecard which saw the popular American card seven birdies on the back nine on his way to a five-under-par 66. He propelled himself into outright third, but was still nine shots behind runaway leader Scottie Scheffler.
After Theegala came off the 18th green on Saturday here in Georgia, it felt like an eternity before he emerged from the scoring room on the ground floor of the clubhouse to complete several media duties. He’d presumably been speaking to a rules official about the situation.
When the incident occurred, the PGA Tour posted footage of the shot on X (formerly Twitter) with a caption that stated Theegala would “have the opportunity to review the penalty with a rules official following his round.” With an eager group of reporters waiting in the interview area next to the putting green, the one-time PGA Tour winner confirmed the decision had stood.
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“I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I was describing the situation – no matter what the outcome was, I needed to know what the actual rule was. Even though me and Xander thought it’s just whatever, it’s fine, you touched a grain of sand, didn’t mean to move it, you’re good.
“I decided to call the rules official right away on that green. But either way, I would have asked the rules officials after the round, too, or somehow found out what the rule was, and if I didn’t ask a rules official and I went back home and looked up the rule – it was sitting in my mind.”
NCG asked Theegala if he had ever called a ruling on himself before. He said he had, but in his younger days when accidentally hitting the branch of a tree in his backswing, somewhat less subtle than the grains of sand he disturbed on Saturday afternoon.
Heading into the last round, Scheffler holds a five-shot lead on 26-under over Collin Morikawa and is in prime position to win the FedEx Cup and $25 million.
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