Sahith Theegala’s two-shot penalty at the Tour Championship cost him a LOT of money

When there’s $100 million on the line for a single tournament, every shot matters.

And that’s why Sahith Theegala calling a two-stroke penalty on himself at the Tour Championship was so much more significant than it would be any other given week.

If you missed it, Theegala was in a bunker on the third hole during Saturday’s round at East Lake when he was sure he fell foul of the rules.

The incident first came to light during the coverage of the season-ending event:

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/rLAgGJGZ5c

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 31, 2024

In the clip, referee Mark Dusbabek, talking over footage of Theegala in conversation with an official, says Theegala has “called for a ruling [because] he feels like he touched the sand on his last hole when he was taking his backswing”.

He adds: “It is a penalty if you touch the sand [with your club] while your ball is in the bunker. He feels that he did, so it’s going to be a two-shot penalty for him.”

Following his round, Theegala explained the situation to the Golf Channel’s Cara Banks:

Sahith Theegala explains what happened in the bunker on the 3rd hole that led to him receiving a two-shot penalty. pic.twitter.com/NR5fik1dQ5

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 31, 2024

“I had a very unique lie on three,” he said. “My pitch mark hit in the face of the bunker, my ball rolled up, and then it rolled back right on top of the pitch mark. So it was a lie that we never usually have or practice.

“I pick up my club normally on my iron shots, and on that one I went through the same process, and I didn’t feel it but I saw something right as I took it back in my peripheral, I thought I saw some sand move, and I was pretty sure of it – I’d say 90 per cent.

“And I notified [playing partner] Xander [Schauffele] right away, and called a rules official over.

“Me and Xander thought that, because there’s no intent, and if anything, I brushed a few grains of sand, that it would be no problem, no penalty or anything.

“But I called for a rules official as I finished the hole and they knew the rule right away – a two-shot penalty because it was changing the lie in the play of the ball.

“Unfortunately, there was no clear footage of it happening. I would have loved to have seen a clear video of me moving the sand, but I really think I moved the sand. It’s just a bummer there’s not clear footage.

“If someone were to ask me, ‘Did you move the sand?’ I’d say ‘yes’ because I thought I saw it.

“We play a lot of golf and your intuition as a golfer is very rarely wrong.”

Pure class, we’re sure you can agree.

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It saw Theegala’s par at the hole change to a double-bogey and move him from 13-under to 11-under at the time.

He went on to card a third-round 66 and added a 64 on Sunday to finish the tournament in third place at 24-under par – two back of Collin Morikawa in second and six back of FedEx Cup champion Scottie Scheffler.

And we know what you’re thinking (mainly because it’s in the headline): just how much did that two-shot penalty cost Theegala?

Well, the Californian earned $7.5 million of the bumper FedEx Cup prize purse for his third-place finish, while Collin Morikawa took home the $12.5 million second prize.

Had Theegala not had those penalty shots, the pair would have shared that $20 million pot evenly – meaning Theegala lost out to the tune of a cool $2.5 million.

Ouch.

And, yes, we’re sure the huge sum he did bank softens the blow somewhat, but still. Besides, you can’t put a price on integrity.

While we’re talking about insane money being won and lost on the PGA Tour over the weekend, make sure you check out the full – and, frankly, remarkable – breakdown of Scheffler’s jackpot bonanza Sunday.

That will make your eyes water…

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor