– Sahith Theegala felt something strange on his second shot of hole 3. He was in the fairway bunker and had the impression that he brushed the sand on the backswing in full motion to hit the ball. It was almost imperceptible. In fact, he wasn’t completely sure. He didn’t see it, he felt it. He wasn’t comfortable with what happened. The first thing he did was to notify Xander Schauffele, his playing partner. He explained what had happened, told him he was 85-90 percent sure he had brushed the sand, but he couldn’t fully confirm it. In any case, they both concluded that there was no intention at all and that in no case had the lie of the ball, its position in the bunker, improved. Schauffele gave him his approval and he could have continued playing without further ado, but Theegala was not satisfied. His conscience did not leave him in peace.
Upon reaching the green of hole 3, he asked for the assistance of a referee and explained what had happened. Same words as to Schauffele. “I’ve been playing this all my life and I’m almost sure I’ve touched some sand, maybe two or three grains, but I’ve brushed something. However, there was no intention and, of course, I think I haven’t improved the situation of the ball,” he explained. The referee, logically, applied the rules. “I’m sorry,” he told Sahith. “The intention doesn’t count and the moment you move sand behind your ball, even if it’s almost imperceptible, you’re already improving the lie and it’s a two-stroke penalty”. Theegala wasn’t even a hundred percent sure and the images didn’t clear up any doubts. There was only one shot, from behind the player, and it was not possible to determine with certainty whether he had touched the surface of the bunker.
So, in the absence of better images, Theegala’s opinion had to prevail. “I would have been more comfortable with images where it could be clearly seen that I was brushing the sand, but there weren’t any. I told the referee that I thought I had touched something, at least, but that it had happened. If I hadn’t spoken to the referee I think I wouldn’t have slept all night. It was an unfortunate situation. You can throw a club in the bunker, even lean on the sand, as long as it’s not near the ball, but you can’t move two grains of dirt in the vicinity of the ball. It’s the rule and it’s complied with”.
Theegala did what he had to do. He shouldn’t be considered a hero for following the rules. However, in these times of shortcuts and smart guys, seeing a player who, without being completely sure and after receiving the approval of his partner, goes all the way and takes the penalty because deep down he considers it the fairest thing, has to be qualified as a lesson in honesty. His example should spread. By the way, Theegala is third with -17. Without the penalty, he would be at -19, even with some remote chance of victory this Sunday.
– The one who has all the chances to win the Tour Championship and, therefore, the FedEx Cup, is Scottie Scheffler. His five-stroke lead over Collin Morikawa seems like a world. The Number One doesn’t trust and warns that he’s going to keep playing the same. Same plan. Same concentration. However, yesterday at the end of his round he showed that he also has his funny side, although sometimes it’s hard to detect. A journalist asked him that he had been seen more unbalanced than usual at the end of some shots, especially in the first nine, if that was something that worried him. Scottie was ironic. “Oh yes, it’s definitely very strange that I finish the shots in a strange way. It’s something I’m going to have to take a look at,” said the author of the weirdest foot movement in world golf.
– Shane Lowry signed this Saturday the best round of the day at the Tour Championship. He shot 65. He has no chance of winning the FedEx Cup, but admitted that it’s the best season of his career after, obviously, 2019, when he won the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. “I would have liked to win some individual tournament on the PGA Tour, beyond the victory with Rory McIlroy in the Zurich pairs. However, it’s been a very good year, I would say the second best after 2019. A good goal for Sunday would be to win the tournament outright, removing the prior stroke allocation according to the position in the FedEx. I’m going to try”. He will need a great Sunday, as he is seven strokes behind Morikawa, leader without those strokes, and six behind Scheffler.
