Sahith Theegala on pace to star for United States team at future Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup events

Sahith Theegala earned his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday at the Fortinet Championship — a win that was once unsurprising to maximum who were following his tale and a reminder of what the 25-year-old portends to be over the following a number of years of his occupation.

With the Ryder Cup beginning subsequent week, it was once onerous to no longer take into consideration Theegala within the combine at future United States team events. He has such a lot of traits you wish to have at a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup: super emotion, often-elite iron play and a brief sport that may save him from nearly any state of affairs. His motive force is a self-admitted downside, and may well be at future team events, however additionally it is one thing he is labored on managing. I do not essentially imagine it is a high quality that might stay him off of U.S. groups, relying on the circumstance and golfing path. 

Most importantly, regardless that, is that he is younger and his sport is making improvements to. Theegala has stepped forward his play in each and every of the closing 5 years, in accordance to Data Golf, and long gone from being a -1.56 golfer as an beginner in 2018 to a 1.10 golfer (and mountain climbing) in 2023. That’s a excellent quantity. It’s excellent sufficient for him to be ranked within the best 35 on Data Golf and just about excellent sufficient to make it to the Tour Championship each and every of the closing two years (he completed one spot out of the highest 30 after the BMW Championship in August).

But, is it excellent sufficient to crack the highest 12 on a loaded American aspect at future team events?

Theegala is the Twentieth-highest ranked American if you happen to glance at the Data Golf scores and twenty first if you happen to glance at the Official World Golf Rankings. He completed twenty third in qualifying issues after a yr through which he overlooked a large number of cuts but additionally completed T4 at the Farmers, T6 at the Genesis, T5 at the RBC Heritage and within the best 10 at the Masters.

If I had to sum up the place he stands within the U.S. hierarchy, I’d say he is on the cusp of breaking into that backside tier of American avid gamers that constantly make Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup groups however no longer slightly there but.

His ball-striking most likely wishes to beef up. Over the closing twelve months, Theegala ranks No. 31 on this planet in overall strokes received however 88th in ball-striking. And whilst the entire quantity is good, groups are usally centered on ball-striking and successful. He’s made strides in each classes, however there may be nonetheless paintings to be executed.

The intoxicating factor about Theegala, particularly because it relates to team events, is that he is probably the most authentic, unique golfers. He performs golfing, no longer golfing swing. And while you play golfing with creativity and middle at puts just like the Ryder Cup, you have a tendency to get rewarded.

“Just growing up as a kid on the range, one of the things I did a lot with my coach and even with my dad is I’ll be on a flat range and I’ll be like ‘How many times are you actually hitting a dead flat shot, a dead stock shot into a hole at a tournament?'” requested Theegala on Sunday. “It’s literally never. So I would always envision I have a tree in front of me and hit every kind of shot around the tree. I did the classic tic-tac-toe. I just love working the ball. 

“Also, jokingly, I used to be like, ‘I’m no longer excellent sufficient to hit a directly shot. I don’t need to intention at the flag and be expecting to hit a directly one, I simply do not suppose my swing’s constructed for that.’ Just roughly a mix of that and indubitably seeing small home windows and tighter goals is one thing I’ve been truly operating on so after I  … do not have an choice, I simply have the tight window, I think like I am going forward and pull it off extra usally than no longer. It’s bit me within the butt a couple of instances. Yeah, I indubitably suppose I’d like to have that center of attention on each shot, however I do know that isn’t how golfing works.”

That sounds like a Ryder Cup dream.

The other piece of the equation, as previously noted, is his emotion. The unadulterated passion with which he plays. I’m not sure anyone wears their heart on his sleeve more than Theegala, and that, as we have seen time and time and time again at team events, is half the battle when it comes to winning as a 12-player unit.

I don’t know if Theegala will ever make a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup team. What I do know is that he’s constantly getting better at his craft and somebody whose trajectory — depending on how much better he can become as a ball-striker — is that of a player who could play on some teams in the future.

“I do not even know what my goals are going on from right here,” he said. “I feel it is simply to stay giving all of it I’ve and doing it for my family and friends and everybody that helps me. Just seeing how a ways I will move on this sport, simply attempting to recover. I truly am addicted to simply seeing how a lot better I will be. 

“Being around some of the top players in the game a lot more recently has fired me up even more just to see if I can be in the mix as kind of one of those guys. Yeah, I guess I’m just going to keep sticking to what I’ve been doing. I think it would probably be easy to get sucked into certain things or looking at stuff different ways, but I’m going to keep looking at it the same way I have been and just do my thing.”

Two years from now, Sahith Theegala may pop up once more in mid-to-late September, but it surely is probably not in Napa at the Fortinet Championship. It may well be at Bethpage at the Ryder Cup as a substitute.