WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 10, 2024

Sahith Theegala

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. Another great two rounds here, taking the lead into the third round. What's been clicking through two days overall?

SAHITH THEEGALA: Yeah, the first day was just a straight endurance test, trying to not have an explosion hole with the conditions. Got through that. Honestly one of the best rounds I've played on TOUR I think that first round.

Then today after the first few holes of the day we got some scorable conditions. It was still freezing until like hole 6 or 7, but we finally got some very scorable conditions. No wind, soft greens, which is rare for out here. I'm used to playing like 10 yards of skip with a pitching wedge. Now we're flying pitching wedge past the hole.

Yeah, it was nice to take advantage of some of the pins just because of the soft greens, and rolled in a couple putts that were bonuses. I guess that totaled up to a 7-under. I played really well again today.

Q. This is your lowest 36-hole total on TOUR. Your previous best was also here. Why do you think it is that you're a horse for this particular course?

SAHITH THEEGALA: I don't really know. One of the things that I noticed about this golf course is there's a lot of -- all the dogleg lefts out here I can hit my cut and cover kind of the corners of the traps and not get to the other traps on the other side of the fairway. I seem to hit it like that perfect 295 carry in that cold weather, which works out great, because some of the bunkers are like 285 to cover and the deeper hitters are getting to the 315 bunkers. It just gives me a little more confidence knowing I should be hitting it in between all of them on a few key holes, one of them being 6. I missed it right today, and it was right in between the two bunkers and probably would have carried the left bunker.

I think it really sets up well for me off the tee.

It's also nice knowing that I've played a lot of desert golf growing up. You can miss in the desert and get lucky. It's not an auto lost ball. With that in the back of my mind, too, it's a little less pressure on some of the tighter tee shots.

Q. Take me through 15 because you got a good break and then a not-so-good break.

SAHITH THEEGALA: Yeah. I don't know what my not-so-good break would be. I felt like the whole hole I had a nice break.

I hit a bad tee shot, got lucky that it stayed left side of the dormant Bermuda, took cart path relief, then took casual water relief, and then I was just going to lay up because I had the trees in my way and some funny stuff, but dropped and realized that I had a perfect number for my 3-iron and had a really nice lie, too.

The only thing was it was a little wet, but the shape was perfect. Just directionally felt like I could hit my 3-iron right in the gap, and yardage-wise it should have been perfect. It was probably the one instance that I go for it from that situation with the trees kind of blocking the right side, and I hit it just a hair fat.

I still thought it might cover close to the front edge of the green, and it just plugged, covered the hazard by two or three yards, and then got another nice break that it was plugged because it was in the intermediate. I got to take it to the fairway and place it.

I hit a really nice chip. I think it was about to skid when it hit the hole. I probably still would have been five, six feet by, and it ended up going five, six feet by after hitting the hole.

Yeah, it was a very adventurous 4. I took four drops, and it probably took us 25 minutes to play the hole. It wasn't for nothing.

Q. Do you feel you have unfinished business at this tournament?

SAHITH THEEGALA: To some extent, yeah. It's funny, leading up to the tournament, I saw my shot on 17 again from two years ago, and I was like, gosh, how did that bounce left. Now I know just not to aim there, although this year there's no chance it's bouncing -- well, I shouldn't say that. But it's soft enough to where you would think it wouldn't bounce like that.

Just kind of fired me up and gave me a little extra motivation.

I think anytime -- again, it evens out, the save stuff, but being on the bad wave kind of fired me up a little bit more again.

Just using whatever I can as fuel, and the fans out here are obviously sick, and I felt the support all day on that back nine again.

I would say when I'm on the golf course I don't think about it, but outside of it, it sure feels like a little bit of unfinished business. Just going to let the golf go and see how it goes this weekend.

Q. I have a real vivid image of you after that tournament hugging your mom, tears in your eyes. Did you ever get that emotional at another TOUR event?

SAHITH THEEGALA: No, I don't think I've ever cried -- I really have never cried over golf. I want it bad. I'm a competitor. But it was just the culmination of everything. I think I've spoke on it before, but just knowing that I have this really dope opportunity to play golf at the highest level and live out my dream, but also it doesn't mean everything.

I had 60 family members and friends surrounding me, kind of to pick me up, and I had all the fan support. It was just like a culmination of everything, and then my first time really being in the heat of the moment and just feeling like I had kind of let everybody else down, including myself.

I think that's why it was just an emotional response, because there's obviously been other heartbreak that I've had on TOUR, and everyone has gone through that in golf. But I've never had a reaction like that. I couldn't even get words out.

I'm an emotional guy, but usually not ugly crying like that.

Q. How did you spend yesterday?

SAHITH THEEGALA: I was just saying, I kind of stretched out everything I did yesterday. I woke up late. We had a brunch, spent like two hours at brunch, coffee, and came back, watched coverage for a while just to see, because we knew we were going to be playing the same hole locations and all that, so watched coverage, got a nice workout in with my trainer. Kind of drug that out. It was only a 30-minute workout, but I spent an hour and a half in the gym. Then came here, practiced for maybe an hour, double checked that I wasn't going to tee off. Went and ate some Thai food for dinner, and that was it. Called it a night.