Did you know this about Sahith Theegala?

Of the 156 players contending in the 2021 United States Open at Torrey Pines, 23-year-old Sahith Theegala is not the biggest name in the field. Most likely, the substantial bulk of people has never even come across him.

However, make no mistake. He is an excellent player.

This isn't also Theegala's first U.S. Open, although it is his first signing as a pro, as he's just been getting paid to play for a year, splitting his time between the Cohen Ferry Trip and the USGA Excursion. He had a very successful college job at Pepperdine, winning every significant award in 2020, although his final season was regrettably stopped due to COVID-19.

Now, as one of the minority Indian-American golf players to ever use the USGA Trip, the 6-foot-3 California local wants to make a name for himself in the professional rankings and has succeeded in doing so thus far.

Sahith Theegala was a highly accomplished junior golf player.

Born in Orange, The golden state, in 1997, Theegala began playing golf at a very early age and won the Junior Golf World Championships at ages 6, 8, and 10. He after that took place to play four periods on the university golf group at Ruby Bar Senior High School and also was an All-Sierra Organization first-team selection all four years, also leading his team to a league title annually.

Along with contending for his senior high school team, Theegala additionally contended on the invitation-only Toyota Excursion Cup, a very respected scenic tour in which jr golfers can sharpen their abilities and compete against the leading players in the region. Given that it began in 1999, future PGA Trip celebrities such as Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Matthew Wolff, Max Homa, and Collin Morikawa have contended on the Toyota Scenic Tour Cup, so we're chatting the best of the best right here.

Theegala posted nine victories on the scenic tour and won the 2014 Los Angeles City Championship, definitely no tiny accomplishment. Likewise, an honour roll trainee in each of his four years of high school, he finished in 2015 and took his talents to Pepperdine, where he became the leading college player in the nation.

He contended in his initial united state Open up as an amateur in 2017 as well as was a three-time All-American at Pepperdine.

In his first season at Pepperdine in 2015-16, Theegala was called West Shore Conference (WCC) Freshman of the Year and also a First string All-WCC choice after arguably the most effective fresher period in college background, posting a racking up average of 71.06. In 2016-17, he had 5 top-10 surfaces, including his very first college victory, and was again an All-WCC First string selection, additionally earning All-American third-team honours.

He qualified for the united state Open at Erin Hills but missed the cut after shooting a 77 and a 75.

In 2017-18, Siegela led the Waves in stroke average as a junior. gained his second victory, was an All-WCC First string option for the third successive year, and was again named a third-team All-American. Unfortunately, he experienced a wrist injury in 2018, which compelled him to miss out on the entire 2018-19 period he redshirted.

However, he became solid as a fifth-year senior, establishing a school record with a 69.04 scoring standard. He finished in the leading 20 in each of the eight competitions and had six top-10s, consisting of two wins. Named a first-team All-American, Theegala additionally ended up being just the fifth player in history to win the Fred Haskins Honor, the Ben Hogan Award, and the Jack Nicklaus Honor. Pepperdine was the number one ranked team in the country when the university golf period was shut down because of COVID-19.

Theegala left to a harsh beginning as a pro, however, has played well in 2021

With his college job ended, Theegala turned pro last springtime and made his debut at the Criminal Scenic tour's Lone Tree Classic in Chandler, Arizona. He ended up third and accumulated a $1,850 income. He then capitalized on a few enroller's exemptions as well as made his PGA Tour debut at the Travelers Championship, where he missed the cut, which he also did the complying with a week at the Rocket Home Loan Standard, and after that once more three weeks later at the 3M Open.

However, he made successive weekend breaks at the Barracuda Championship, where he tied for 41st, and the 2020-21 season-opening Safeway Open, where he tied for 14th. Theegala made one last begin in 2020, missing out on the cut at the Sanderson Farms Champion.

Complying with an extensive layoff, Theegala made his Korn Ferryboat Trip, launching in March 2021, finishing tied for 19th. He's made 5, even more, begins on the KFT since then and has made the cut in each, his best coating a tie for nine at the MGM Resorts Championship at Paiute. He returned to the PGA Trip at the Charles Schwab Challenge yet missed the cut. Nonetheless, he bounced back nicely with a very decent T-32 coating at the Memorial, after which he travelled about an hr southern to Springfield Country Club, where he won a 3-for-1 playoff to enter into the united state Open at Torrey Pines, where he struck the first shot of the tournament on Thursday morning.

What makes Sahith Theegala's young career so fascinating ... well, one of the things anyway ... is the truth that he has scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the back. Any back-related irregularity isn't an advantage for any golf player, yet Theegala has found a means to make it work. As well as, while he's still seeking that first professional success, he's obtained things working just fine one year right into his pro job. Given his PGA Scenic tour debut last summer season, he's leapt almost 1,400 places in the Authorities Globe Golf Ranking and also is only mosting likely to continue to climb if he plays the way he's capable of playing.