Sahith Theegala is presently making his second appearance at the PGA Tour opener, The Sentry Tournament. He is currently in the lead at the Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course after the end of the first round. However, his first experience on the golf course in 2023 was not so great. Back then, he ended up 33rd on the leaderboard with four rounds of 67-71-72-72.
Golf Channel shared a video of the post-round interview with Sahith Theegala at The Sentry Tournament 2024 on Thursday. He was asked about how the experience of playing at the Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course helps compared to first-time players.
Theegala replied that the golf course of The Sentry Tournament is very slopey and has very tough conditions for a golfer. He added that some holes are so tough that hitting the fairway has to be the only option.
“I saw something about first-timers not doing great here. And I believe it because this place is so slopey. And, even with how slopey it is, there’s a lot of kind of intricate little things going around the greens. And there’s some holes where you almost only want to be in the fairway, and just getting a good idea of all the angles and the slopes in tournament play, not even just practice round play, was big.”
Sahith Theegala is staying composed while optimistic after taking @TheSentry lead with an excellent first-round 64. @ToddLewisGC pic.twitter.com/lx71ARpIRa
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) January 5, 2024
Sahith Theegala added by sharing his preparations before The Sentry 2024. He said that he had taken some notes from last year and practiced accordingly before the PGA Tour event.
“And, we took a lot of things off of what I did last year in the tournament to the practice rounds this week and today. So, it’s huge. I’m getting a taste of how nice it is to come back to events,” Theegala said.
Sahith Theegala Shares His Source of Optimism at The Sentry Tournament 2024
During the post-round interview, Theegala was asked how the 2023 Fortinet Championship win during the PGA Tour fall season helped him better entering into the Sentry Tournament in 2024. He replied that it meant a lot and had helped him understand that the hard work he had put in was paying off.
The PGA Tour pro shared that winning the 2023 Fortinet Championship had only made him “hungrier” to get better and perform better. He said that he still had to make a lot of improvements.
Later on, Sahith reflected on his journey from the collegiate level to the pro level. He mentioned the improvements that he had made, and added that playing on the PGA Tour felt like a “dream come true,” and was focused on taking one tournament at a time.
Sahith Theegala had shot a blistering round of 9 under 64 carding 10 birdies and just one bogey on Thursday at the Sentry Tournament being played in Hawaii. He will be starting his second round at 2:21 p.m. ET in the Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course on Friday. It would be exciting to see if the 26-year-old American golfer manages to take forward his form in the second round as well.
