Yadagiri Theegala always told his grandson Sahith to chase his dreams.But not until a visit from India, when Sahith won a junior golf tournament in Southern California and Yadagiri handed him the trophy, did Grandpa understand what those dreams entailed.
“When he went back to India six months later,” Muralidhar Theegala recalls of his late father, ”he talked to all of the family: ‘My grandson is such a great player.’ He would tell me to encourage him. Before that, he was always asking about studies, studies, academics, academics. When he saw that, he said, ‘Oh, he’s so good.’ And all of our conversations after that were about golf.”
Yadagiri wasn’t able to watch his grandson hoist professional trophies. He passed in 2021, just as Sahith was starting his PGA Tour career. But three years later, Muralidhar says many of his father’s values as an Indian police officer live on through his grandson, the world’s 12th-ranked golfer.
Last week at the Procore Championship in Napa, the site of Sahith’s first PGA Tour victory last year, Muralidhar explained how his father’s lessons may have cost Sahith $2.5 million in earnings last month.
Sahith Theegala celebrates his high school graduation with family | India Currents/Nick Lozito
Grains of honesty
At the Tour Championship in Atlanta, the largest tournament purse of the season, Sahith accidentally brushed a few grains of sand during a backswing, thus improving his lie. Sahith told his playing partner of the infraction, costing himself two strokes – the difference between the $7.5 million he made for third place and the $10 million he would have made had he tied for second with two fewer strokes.
“I think my dad’s honesty probably overshadowed both my kids,” Muralidhar said Thursday while walking down the 18th fairway at Silverado Resort in Napa, leading a boisterous gallery of family and friends. “That probably helped him to make the right call (on the penalty). And it’s good for the game.
“I think it probably brought in so many fans who say, ‘We love the game because of that,’ ”
Muralidhar never played golf while growing up in Hyderabad, an industrial city in southern India. Like many Indian kids, his parents stressed education. Sahith is grateful that Yadagiri allowed his father to attend college in Kansas, before Muralidhar settled in Chino Hills, near Los Angeles, with wife Karuna.
“He trusted him enough to let him come alone,” the golfer said. “He was very strict on my dad, but in a good way, and I think that rubbed off on me.”
The President’s Cup
At next week’s Presidents Cup golf tournament in Montreal, Canada, Theegala will become the first Indian-American to represent the United States in one of the two premier international team events (the Ryder Cup being the other). Theegala understands his role as an ambassador, especially for an Indian-American community that lacks representation in most major American sports.
During a Wednesday media session in Napa, Theegala turns simple “Yes” or “No” questions from reporters into three-part answers. A PGA Tour employee surprises the golfer with an old social media photo of Sahith wearing a headset while playing video games in high school. The employee asks Theegala to sign the photo for social media. The self-deprecating request turns into jovial banter.
One interview leads to the next.
“I just have three more questions,” one TV reporter says, 10 minutes into the interview.
Theegala doesn’t complain, wince or moan.
“I need to be the bad person or else we’d be here for two hours,” whispers a tour official.
Six years ago, Theegala met Jack Nicklaus while playing in the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach. Theegala, then playing for Pepperdine University, waited 45 minutes to meet the golfing icon.
“He was having conversations with everyone,” Theegala recalls of Nicklaus. “I saw he is a genuine guy. It means a lot that one of the icons of the game is also a standup person.”
A noble penalty
The $2.5 million penalty has become a talking point among golf media and fans. In a sport fractured in recent years by players defecting from the PGA Tour for guaranteed millions of dollars on the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV golf tour, acts of nobility such as Theegala’s are a welcomed divergence.
“I don’t know how anyone could live knowing that they did that,” Sahith said of reporting the penalty. “I guess it was just the way my dad instilled values in me as a kid with golf specifically, and my mom with the non-golf stuff. It was just second nature. I felt I did something wrong.”
The golfer’s integrity resonates with 6-year-old Vihaan, whose father took him to the Procore Championship on Sunday afternoon. Vihaan explained why Theegala is his favorite golfer.
“Maybe his bunker shots,” said the boy, whose hat had been autographed by Sahith. “His driving. Oh, and he called a penalty on himself. That was good because he did not cheat. He was honest.”
On the next hole, the par-3 7th at Silverado Resort, Theegala holed a 72-foot bunker shot for birdie.
“I was just talking about his bunker shots!” shouted Vihaan, giving a high-five.
On the par-3 17th, Theegala holed another bunker shot for birdie. They are his only birdies of the final round. Patton Kizzire won the event at 20-under par. Theegala tied for seventh place at 12-under, unable to repeat last year’s magic in Napa.
Grandpa's wish
Afterward, near the practice putting green, Theegala autographed his glove for Vihaan. The 6-year-old is a pretty good golfer, too. “This morning I was playing really well!” he boasted earlier.
A group of kids wait for their own autographs. One by one, Sahith goes down the line. A few feet away, Muralidhar and Karuna mingle with the dozens of family and friends who made the trip.
Somewhere above, Sahith believes, Yadagiri is smiling.
“He’s definitely looking down proud,” the golfer said. “He was one of the few people that supported me every step of the way. Golf, academics. Just life. He said, ‘Keep chasing your dreams. Try to be No. 1, on and off the golf course.’ ”
(The article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Free Press Journal and India Currents).
