Sleeper Picks: ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. – Sahith Theegala was out to dinner the other night. It was a Thai place near TPC Southwind, home of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where Theegala’s second-round 70 has him at 7 under and in contention yet again entering the weekend of a PGA TOUR event. They were a party of seven, including Theegala’s childhood coach, Rick Hunter; college coach, Michael Beard; Beard’s two sons; a Pepperdine University booster; and Theegala’s fitness guy, Josh Loyo. It was going to be 20-25 minutes to get a table. Then the restaurant owner, spotting a celebrity in his midst, got involved, which, ahem, expedited things. You could say life has changed for Theegala. A year ago, he was gearing up for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Now he’s taking selfies with restaurant owners and is known as one of the fastest rising talents on the PGA TOUR. “It feels like he’s starting to own it a little bit,” Pepperdine’s Beard said Friday, when Theegala hit 11 of 14 fairways for the second straight day but putted poorly. “At first he was kind of feeling it out, but he’s getting more comfortable out here.” The proof is in the numbers. He’s 39th in the FedExCup and 64th in the world. Cameron Young leads the Rookie of the Year race after a T3 at the PGA Championship and solo 2nd at The Open, two of his seven top-3 finishes this year. He’s ninth in the FedExCup. Joohyung “Tom” Kim, 20, entered the picture with his Wyndham Championship win and is 34th. Mito Pereira (38th) led all the way to the last hole of the PGA and has had a nice year. Theegala, though, would also have to be considered a strong contender for top rookie. “He reminds me of Tony at that age,” said Boyd Summerhays, who coaches Tony Finau, the 32-year-old who’s won three of his four PGA TOUR titles in the last 12 months. “I love the guy. A little raw, but a massive talent, and he’s got the head for it, too.” To be sure, Theegala is learning fast, and from more than just narrow losses at the Travelers Championship (72nd-hole double bogey, T2), WM Phoenix Open (71st-hole bogey, T3), and Sanderson Farms Championship (final-round 71, T8). Theegala has had to learn how to travel, too, which meant realizing that living in L.A. wasn’t working. Although he is SoCal to his core, he moved to Houston four months ago. He plays out of The Woodlands, where TOUR pros have put down roots for years and where Theegala said childhood memories of visiting his aunt factored into his decision. “Just like a more central location,” he said. “I lived pretty far east in L.A. so getting to (Los Angeles International Airport) was a pain and I had like 10-hour travel days and connecting. I was like, I’m over this.” Of Houston, he added, “It’s a two-hour flight everywhere direct and it’s been so awesome for that.” What’s more, he has had an easier time simulating TOUR golf there than in L.A. For the last three months, Theegala said, he has been practicing and playing on Bermudagrass, a notoriously fickle surface that can give fits to players who hail from the West Coast. The move has steeled him nicely for the Bermuda at TPC Southwind. Not that he hasn’t had a few hiccups. Of his second round, he said the front nine was a string of missed opportunities and the back was scratchy but still featured “some good shots coming down the stretch.” Despite all that, he’s still poised to make a move in the FedExCup Playoffs. “He forgets quickly,” said his childhood coach Hunter, who teaches at the public El Prado G.C. in Chino, California. “It’s a huge quality. Like today, he could have shot 5 or 6 under. On the first seven holes he didn’t have a birdie putt over 10 feet.” The other night, Hunter was at the practice area with Theegala and his caddie, Carl Smith, when Theegala hooded his sand wedge and started hitting low hooks to a target only 20-25 yards away. That turned into a competition to see who could throw it closest to the pin. Sometimes his thirst for competition leads to darts, or Ping-Pong, or games made up on the spot. “When he was 7,” Hunter said, “playing on little par-3 courses, he came back from a tournament and said, ‘Mr. Hunter, there’s this one hole with a tree right in front of the green. I can’t get over it. Can you teach me how to go around it?’ And I went, here we go, now we’re going to learn how to hit shots at 7 years old, and that’s all he does now. Around, over, under. Back then he was never hitting a straight ball, and that’s what he does now.” Theegala is also never far from his dedicated fans. As on the West Coast Swing and elsewhere, his parents, father Muralidhar and mother Karuna, have followed him at TPC Southwind. They’ve rented a house, because Sahith also pulls in friends, cousins, aunts, uncles. Sometimes his little brother, Sahan, a student at Seton Hall, comes out. Theegala is like the Boston Red Sox: He can travel far and wide and still enjoy a modicum of hometown support. “And people who don’t even know him love him,” Hunter said. “I always say the kids love him and the drunks love him, and everybody in between. He’s a great personality, he really is. And fun to watch. He’s not afraid to take a risk, and sometimes he gets bit, but he lives with it. He’s had so many miracle shots over the years, it’s a normal happenstance.” Theegala figures he’ll go into the weekend with some ground to make up, but he’s not worried. At the Travelers he never really led until the end but double-bogeyed 18 to lose to Xander Schauffele by two. In Phoenix, as a sponsor exemption, he was the solo leader after the second and third rounds, but a bad bounce at the drivable 17th hole trundled into the water and led to a crushing bogey. Scottie Scheffler was the first-time winner that week. At Sanderson Farms, Theegala had at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds, but he never had his best stuff as he faded with a final-round 71. Sam Burns won. Asked what he’s learned, Theegala said it hasn’t been a conscious evolution but somehow he still seems to be getting better at handling those late tee times on the weekend. “I keep reminding myself this is a great feeling to feel pressure,” he said. He’s got the physical tools. He’s got the head for it. Sahith Theegala’s table is ready.

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Winning on the PGA TOUR as a rookie is always a tall task. Having to deal with a broken club on the driving range before the final round adds another level of difficulty to the situation — especially when the club happens to be the one that gives you an edge over the field. That was the dilemma Cameron Champ had to deal with on Sunday afternoon at the Sanderson Farms Championship, after the face on his PING G400 Max driver cracked as he was warming up. “I was on the range and actually had my headphones in at the time,” Champ said. “I hit the first drive and kind of fell out of the air. I was like, Oh, that’s kind of weird. Probably cracked there but didn’t crack on the top yet. Then I hit another one and it just split straight and a half. “Yeah, it was very unexpected. Then my backup is actually my old one I have that week. I didn’t bring a new new head. It was an older one from my previous driver. I know the weighting was just a little bit off, so just tried to hit as many balls as I could on the range with it just to get used to it a little bit.” Already dealing with what he called a mix of “nerves and adrenaline” as the 54-hole leader, Champ was forced to make do with his old driver during the final round. Although the driver was practically identical to his previous build, Champ struggled off the tee, hitting just five fairway (his lowest total for the week) and ranking 29th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee. He still managed to hit drives that topped 320 yards on four of the last six holes, setting the stage for a torrid finish to the tournament that saw Champ birdie five of his last six to win by four. Reed’s new wand: Patrick Reed rarely tinkers with the putter, which is part of the reason why his decision to go with something other than the trusty Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 took many by surprise at the WGC-HSBC Champions. Reed opted for a Scotty Cameron Timeless 2.5 GSS with a dark finish and a single strip of lead tape on the sole. According to Scotty Cameron Tour rep Johnny Delprete, the putter is a Timeless 2 GSS with a welded .5 neck. Cameron has done 2.5 retail versions in the past, including the Select Newport 2.5 that featured 3/4 shaft offset with a Newport 2 style head. Reed finished T7 in China with the new putter. Rory swaps putter: Rory McIlroy added a new putter to the rotation at the WGC-HSBC Champions in the form of a TaylorMade TP Black Copper Soto with a custom plumber’s neck.   Compared to his old TP Black Copper Soto, the custom Anser-style blade lacked TaylorMade’s red Pure Roll insert and slant neck, giving it a similar look and feel to the old Scotty Cameron Newport GSS putter McIlroy had success with in the past when he was a Titleist staffer. McIlroy struggled mightily with the putter over 72 holes, finishing the week T54 at 10 over. While it isn’t a direct indicator of struggles or success, he averaged 1.756 putts per green in regulation at Sheshan International Golf Club. DeChambeau’s electric driver: It took Bryson DeChambeau until the FedExCup Playoffs to put Cobra’s King F8+ driver in the bag. The switch to Cobra’s next driver might not take nearly as long. DeChambeau, who’s in the field this week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, posted a slow-mo video on his Instagram account of what appears to be Cobra’s 2019 driver offering. The club appears to have electric yellow paint around the back portion of the head (sole), which is a dead giveaway he’s no longer using F8+. It remains to be seen if he’s merely testing the club or plans to put it in the bag this week at TPC Summerlin. PGA TOUR SUPERSTORE: Buy equipment here

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