The rules penalty that may cost Sahith Theegala millions? Here’s his side

Sahith Theegala says he was “98, 99 percent sure” he ran afoul of the rules. 

And he was 100 percent certain what would’ve happened if he’d kept quiet about it. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t be able to sleep,” Theegala said.  

His debrief with reporters Saturday after the Tour Championship’s third round capped a wild series of events for the 26-year-old pro, who seemingly earned countless nods of respect for his honesty, and perhaps some grimaces for the dollars it may cost him. The moment in question came on East Lake Golf Club’s par-4 3rd hole, after Theegala dumped his tee shot into a right fairway bunker. 

There, Theegala said, his ball struck the sand, rolled up to the bunker’s lip, then back down, before sitting up in its original pitch mark. “So it was a very unusual lie,” he said. “It was teed up in the sand. It was a really nice lie.” From there, from 145 yards away from the hole, Theegala dropped his second shot to 39 feet. But something was amiss to him. 

He said he’d been trying to hit a cut, and his move to do so requires him to “sweep it back low” — which is where he believed he connected with some sand, a no-no under Rule 8.1a (4). That rule reads as follows: A player must not take any of these actions if they improve the conditions affecting the stroke: 4. Remove or press down sand or loose soil. Astute observers may remember Patrick Reed was dinged on this at the 2019 Hero World Challenge, where, while preparing for a shot from a waste bunker, Reed took his club back from his ball during multiple practice swings and moved sand from directly behind his ball twice. 

Saturday, shortly after the shot, Theegala said he talked with his playing partner, Xander Schauffele. 

“I was like, hey, dude, I think I moved some sand while I hit that shot,” Theegala said, “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.”

Seemingly, that’s what he heard from the rules official called while the players were on the green. But Theegala also wondered to himself: Did he really see sand move? Was he right in admitting the penalty? Maybe he’d seen something else. Maybe NBC’s broadcast would shed some light — but he told reporters that the camera angle that was offered “was pretty far behind the ball and it was kind of zoomed out. It was really tough to see.”

In the end, though, he said he almost certainly moved sand, and almost certainly cinched his decision. 

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“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,” Theegala said. “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 yeah, it was just unfortunate. But I did — 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.

“I’ve just played so much golf. You spend so much time of your life staring down at the lie you have, the ball you have, and it just did not feel like a normal fairway bunker shot. It felt like some of the sand 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.”

Did Theegala have any idea how much sand he might have touched?

Grains, he said. 

“If you think about it, if you hit something on your backswing and you feel anything, you’re going to stop and reset,” Theegala said. “Imagine being into — having a downgrain lie and you just clip a piece of grass, like that’s stopping your club a little bit. The amount of sand that was behind this ball, like if I hit a significant amount of, like I would have stopped and I would have thought it wasn’t a penalty and I wouldn’t have gotten penalized. Just the same except my ball is still there.

“So it was a very little amount of sand. I can say that with full honesty and clarity. It was not a very large amount of sand. I don’t think it improved the lie at all. I shouldn’t say that. Some of the sand moved; maybe it did improve it. But it was on the backswing. … 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.”

Notably, after the two-stroke penalty was assessed — and following a self-described outburst that featured a thrown water bottle — Theegala rallied. He parred the next hole on a 12-foot putt, then fired a back-nine 30 that included a whopping seven birdies. Sunday, he’ll start the final round in third, nine back of leader Scottie Scheffler. 

Here, though, you may start to do some math. The Tour Championship, the PGA Tour’s season-ending event, doles out serious cash. First pays $25 million. Second pays $12.5 million. Third gets $7.5 million. Fourth $6 million. Fifth $5 million. Sixth $3.5 million. Dropped shots are costly. As are penalty shots. 

Doesn’t matter, Theegala said. 

Saturday night, a reporter asked him if he’d sleep badly if he hadn’t called the penalty — which drew his response that he’d never sleep. 

“I was describing the situation — no matter what the outcome was, I needed to know what the actual rule was,” Theegala said. “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.

“Again, intuition, it felt like I moved the sand. It was sitting in my mind. If I went back after the round, looked that up and found out that it was a two-shot penalty, I would be DQ’d right now. So I am glad I brought it up right away. I know the rules of golf a little bit better now. There is a lot of silly stuff you can do in the bunker. You can chuck a club in the bunker, you can literally stand — you can use your golf club as a stand in the bunker. As long as it’s not right next to your ball.

“There’s a lot of things you can do. But unfortunately if it’s in the area affecting the lie and the swing of your shot, regardless of intent, it’s a two-shot penalty.”