What is a ‘Mongol Return’? explains Sahith Theegala.
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MONTREAL – The words just left Sahith Theegala mouth, his teammates knew he had made a mistake.
“Playing the match is a funny, funny thing,” Theegala said Thursday at the Presidents Cup, minutes after winning his first match as a member of the American team. “There are always some Mogul … and things go the way you don’t think they would.”
Theegala finished his answer, but his teammates would never hear it. By the time he finished speaking, Xander Schauffele, Keegan Bradley and Scottie Scheffler were laughing.
The reason for the laughter was clear. Theegala’s fluent response had included a nonsequitur that felt like a microaggression. What did he mean by the mongols?
Thankfully, it only took a few more questions until Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan asked for further explanation.
“Sahith,” he asked. “Can you tell us what Mongols are?”
Almost immediately, the 26-year-old pro broke into a smile.
“I heard them laugh when I said that,” he said, looking at his (now laughing) teammates. “I realize I didn’t say the full sentence. No race or country is targeted, but it is a Mongol overthrow. I don’t even know how it originated.”
oh yeah – Mongol overthrow – a term first coined in connection with the fall of the Mongol Empire in the 14th century. In history, the term refers to the dramatic expansion of the Mongol empire across the Asian continent in the 13th and early 14th centuries before it. sudden decline over the years after the death of Genghis Khan. In golf, however, it refers to the match play equivalent – when one feels they have conquered the hole, only for their opponent to turn the board over.
“The first time I heard it was actually Fred Couples, a long time ago when I was watching TV,” Theegala said. “I think it’s just when your opponents are in a better spot than you on the hole and you do something interesting like hit a long putt. It looks like your opponents are going to win the hole when you hit approach shots, but you make the long shot and they miss the short shot and all of a sudden it looks like you’re missing the hole to win the hole.”
The result: not nearly what it sounded like during Thursday night’s Presidents Cup press conference — and a swift apology from the man at its center.
“Thank you for asking to clarify that,” Theegala said with a relieved smile. “Mongolian inversion, yes.”
And then a laugh.
“Don’t cancel on me, please.”
