Sahith Theegala on the 18th green at Royal Montreal on Thursday.
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MONTREAL – He finds dad first. Of course he would. Dad has been consistently consistent, and he is lovingly bubbly, and on the first hole of the Royal Montreal, facing 4000 fights and ahead of the first Presidents Cupwhich is also his first team event, steady and bubbly are welcome. After spotting it to the left of the tee box, they get their hands dirty.
He turns back. It’s time. He’s breathing, we think. He settles inside. He takes one, two, three, four, five glances down the fairway before the most unexpected thing happens on the first day of this biennial event.
Sahith Theegala finds the freeway.
You see, he’s a bit of a hater, albeit with pride. It even compares itself to someone else who also plays the game mostly left and right, before going up and down somewhat.
“I probably bring a different style of play,” Theegala said Tuesday. “A lot of these guys are just robots, for lack of a better word. They hit him so well. And point A to point B almost every time.
“And I feel like I bring a different flair to the game. I tend to hit it everywhere sometimes. I will not compare myself to (Jordan) Spiethnot even close. But try every once in a while like Spieth, just trying to get creative and get away. No one will be able to compare to that guy. But only slightly more creative ways to go green. I’m a brawler. I’m kind of a scorer. A slightly different approach for the team. Those guys are so good that I’m just trying to find a way to hit the ball in the hole as quickly as possible.”
Presidents, Ryder and Solheim Cups, of course, require such sparks, such igniters, and as history is written this week, the latest may just be this 26-year-old from So Cal, who is as diligent as a month before, in the tournament championship, we saw it self-report a violation that added two strokes and eventually anchored him to $2.5 million, whose golf bag is so deep that he is world No. 11 at this deadline. On Thursday, while he was a partner with Collin Morikawa in four overs, Theegala scored a point in 18, and the sequence was something. Fairway. (Another one!) Iron filled up to 2 feet. (Spiethian!). Easy shot. (Time for hugs and handshakes, part of USA’s 5-0 lead!)
Back to dad though. we must. Murli Theegala grows the story, though his son tells it best. Before he does, just know that the father is his son’s biggest fan – he’s easy to spot here this week, wearing a white ‘Team Theegala’ cap – and the feeling is mutual. On Tuesday, I asked Theegala Jr. who his role model was and got this answer, and it’s long, but we promise it’s good:
“Yes, the easy answer to that and my true and honest answer is my father. I wouldn’t say – in a weird way, I wouldn’t say it’s because of what he did for me, but more how he treats other people. He makes everyone feel like – and this is not fake at all – he makes everyone feel like your best friend. And it’s not fake at all. He feels like he just wants to spread joy to the world.
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“We are not naive to the world. He is not naive to the world. Life is hard. Life is hard. And what we’re doing here sometimes seems like a dream. I am not saying that what we do is not difficult. I’m just saying we’re very lucky to be in this position.
“He does such a wonderful job of reminding me what life is all about. It’s all about people. And you just have to be nice to people – no matter what the situation is, you never know what someone is going through.
“It’s my father, for his mentality and the way life will go on. It’s a team effort. My mother too. My mother instilled so many values. She’s a little harder on me than my dad, which I’m very grateful for. It’s a great duo. But an example, I would say my father.”
Did he feel compelled to be a model?
“You know what, I don’t feel like an obligation,” Theegala said. “I just look at it because I have a really cool platform and it doesn’t take a lot of effort to spread goodness. And I try to – sometimes I get out of the way – sometimes it can be a detriment, but I say hey to the fans or sign or whatever.
“But I think I’m just lucky that my parents instilled in me at a young age to shake hands, to ask how people are doing. And I have to remind myself – the big thing for me is, funnily enough, volunteers. There are so many volunteers out there. These tours are impossible without these volunteers. So just ‘thank you’ as I’m walking to the tee box or I’m walking off a green or they’re putting a flag down because I’m so rough. Just a simple thank you.
“And I know how a very small gesture can go a long way. And it’s nice that people can think of me as a role model. I think thinking of yourself as a role model is probably not the best way to go about it, but you know people are watching you and you know kids are watching you and you want to better yourself going forward. I feel like my best self going forward is just me being me because of the way my parents raised me.”
Another question from earlier this week, about his dad and mom, Karuna. They are both from India, while their son was born in the US, now playing for an American team.
Your parents immigrated to this country. They worked hard so you could play golf. Is this a week where you will wear the red, white and blue, where you can sit back and reflect on this whole journey?
“For sure. It’s pretty wild,” Theegala said. “I don’t think this is what my father envisioned when he came to the US from India. But it means the world – I know my father is very grateful for the country and the opportunity he’s been given. At the same time, he took advantage of this opportunity. This is the greatness of this country.
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“That opportunity led to my opportunity. And just being able to give back to the country – I don’t necessarily see it as giving back to the country, but just playing for your country and wearing your colors and representing means the world.
“It makes me very angry to see other guys on the team who love him so badly and mean so much to them. I know it’s well documented, but Scottie (Scheffler) at the Olympics, to win it for the USA, it’s such a big deal. There is no greater event than when you play for your country.
“It’s a bit full circle. It is very humbling and satisfying at the same time. But it’s great. I can’t wait for my parents to be here. And they will soak up the whole experience as much as I will.”
They did. Moment on 1. Moment on 18. That was something too. After his son’s iron on the green, Murli hit one hand. Then another. Dozens in all. They’re playing in Canada, but who doesn’t like to be happy with a proud dad? Greenside, Murli saw his son win. The party began. Tony Finau hugged him and called him “pops”.
I asked Murli for a second. I have a few minutes. Below are the words, but please imagine him smiling.
How was today?
“Oh, I can’t believe it, can I? I was just waiting for the day to start. I think this is a fun format, I like it. Individual sports are great, but team sports are a lot of fun. I was excited, just waiting for this day to begin. And it’s a good format for him, so there’s no pressure on him as a four; four ball is a better way to lean on your partner a bit. I was happy they did a great job. I was happy with Sahith today. I was waiting all day for him to just make a beautiful shot there and that beautiful shot, he did it.”
When he came to the 1st tee and saw you on the left, you guys clapped your hands, what was that moment like, if you could try to explain it?
“This is unbelievable. He is such a good kid. That’s what he does. I mean, it’s unbelievable for him to realize that we got off, and all the way from there, and he still recognized us. It’s incredible to watch him come and say, have fun.”
When you saw the shot at 18, what was it like?
“You know, I was just telling the fans out there, I’m just waiting for one shot to highlight his day because I’ve always seen that, and that’s the shot, which was unbelievable. I think (assistant captain) Stewart Cink was saying, ‘Did you hit the flagstick?’ “I don’t think so, Stewart, but it seems close.”
At that moment, when you were walking up and high-fiving…
“Absolutely. I said, ok, one shot, you did it, you did it for fun today. Because it means a lot to him, just the first match in a team event. I think to get that win in your shot is an incredible feeling. It bodes well for the rest of the tournament, yes.”
Could you have ever imagined this when you came to the United States, something like this? I know it’s a big question, but…
“No, no, no, absolutely not, absolutely not. I never dreamed that he would be like a professional golfer. He loved sports. I liked sports. My passion was sports, so I rode with him, through all the ups and downs, and it’s incredible what he did at Pepperdine and when he had his injury he came back mentally strong. And he loves the game so much, I think that passion – even when you wake up in the middle of the night, he still wants to go play 18 holes. This is his passion. And then I was there to enjoy every minute of it. It’s an incredible feeling.”
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Here I took a picture, then I told Murli that his son told me it was his model. He smiled.
But to wrap things up here, back to Spieth, to his comebacks. Return to the first hole. Back to the hug, or more specifically the after.
Our protagonist forgot to give parents in-the-rope access.
“I felt bad, they were just going with the crowd on hole 1,” he said. “I know I saw my dad being ambushed by a group of fans, which is fantastic. He loves her too.
“But that means the world is here. He’s not afraid to show his emotions and I think that’s where I find my emotions on the golf course as well.”
But the younger Theegala finally rallied.
On hole 2, the coach and his coach had their passes taken.
