WATCH: Sahith Theegala drains 55 foot birdie as he chases win at 2024 PGA Championship
Sahith Theegala began the final round of the 2024 PGA Championship in third place, just one stroke behind the leaders. Theegala showed his determination to contend for the title from the first hole, draining a spectacular 55-feet putt.
The play was broadcast live by the event TV coverage. The video was posted by the PGA Tour on its official X account (formerly Twitter) and has had more than 40,000 views in one hour.
In the footage, Sahith Theegala can be seen executing his putt on the first green. The shot required a lot of precision, as it had to travel downhill. Theegala executed it with great skill and the ball went cleanly into the hole.
The putt represented a birdie on the first hole for Sahith Theegala, which put him in a temporary tie for first place with Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.
Sahith Theegala has been one of the best putters of the 2024 PGA Championship with a 'Stroke Gained: Putting' of 7.295 (ranked 4th in the tournament).
After this exceptional play, Theegala's fortune has not been the same so far. He has not gotten another birdie, while he bogeyed the 2nd and the 5th. His score for the round is 1 over through 6.
A look into Sahith Theegala's first three rounds at the 2024 PGA Championship
Theegala has been in contention for the PGA Championship title since the start of the tournament. He played his first round for a score of 65, with seven birdies and one bogey. His front nine was a standout, scoring 4 under 31 in that segment.
During the second round Theegala again played very well on the front nine, with four birdies and no bogeys. His score for the round was 67 and his 36-hole score was 10 under.
Theegala repeated his score of 67 during the 'Moving Day'. This time he found his best game on the back nine, with five birdies and no bogeys in that segment. With this performance, he reached 13 under and placed third after 54 holes.
After playing his third round, Theegala told a press conference that he was looking forward to enjoying the fourth round of the event:
"I'm just going to have a lot of fun tomorrow," Theegala said. "I'll be nervous and it's going to be great to embrace those nerves because it's a feeling you don't get often."
The 2024 edition is only Theegala's second PGA Championship experience. In 2023 he finished T40 at Oak Hill.
It is also his ninth Major championship appearance. In eight previous participations, he has five cuts passed with a Top 10 at The Masters 2023 as his best result.