Sahith Theegala produced one of the performances of the day in the third round of the Tour Championship. His 66 left him third on the leaderboard, up from 12th at the start of the event.
However, it would have been even better but for some remarkable honesty from the American when he called a penalty on himself after his ball found a bunker on the third hole.
Theegala landed in the fairway bunker with his tee shot, but during his second shot, he thought he moved some sand on his backswing before finding the fairway to the left of the green.
At that point, it appears no one other than Theegala was aware of a potential violation, but after he called over a rules official, he was assessed a two-shot penalty.
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/rLAgGJGZ5cAugust 31, 2024
That’s because Rule 12.2b(1) of the rules of golf states that a player must not “touch sand in the bunker with a club in the area right in front of or right behind the ball.” That includes when making a backswing for a stroke.
After his round, Theegala explained that the trouble began with a unique lie. "It was a very unusual lie," he said. "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."
Theegala then explained that, after notifying playing partner Xander Schauffele, neither thought it would result in a penalty. However, that’s not how the rules official saw it.
He continued: “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."
Even TV replays of the shot were inconclusive, but Theegala insisted that his intuition told him he had made the error. He added: “At the end of the day, 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 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."
Theegala’s honesty would be commendable at any event, but it is perhaps even more so given the high-stakes nature of the FedEx Cup finale. Had he carded a round of 64, it would have left him just two shots off Collin Morikawa in second and the chance to win $12.5m in prize money rather than the $7.5m he will pick up if he remains in third.
Scottie Scheffler finished the third round nine shots ahead of Theegala at the top of the leaderboard, with a $25m first prize to the winner.
