Sahith Theegala showed plenty of grit to claw his way back and make the cut at the Sony Open on Friday. Theegala bogeyed his first three holes of the day, dropping to six-over-par and looking unlikely to play into the weekend.
Sahith Theegala showed plenty of grit to claw his way back and make the cut at the Sony Open on Friday.
Theegala bogeyed his first three holes of the day, dropping to six-over-par and looking unlikely to play into the weekend.
He responded with eight birdies and a bogey over the next 15 holes, finishing the second round at one-under-par.
Despite a difficult year in 2025, Theegala had said earlier in the week that he wasn’t concerned about where his game stood.
The 28-year-old went through last season without a single top-10 finish across 23 events and missed six cuts along the way.
Although he just scraped through this week’s cut, there have been some encouraging signs from his game so far in Honolulu. One thing stood out for him as an especially positive indicator heading into the new season.
Sahith Theegala admits to shocking fact after day two of the Sony Open
Theegala’s second round was much improved though. He shot a 66, which was enough to get him through the cut.
Reflecting on his round, Theegala said: “Yeah, it was a pretty wild week. Bogeyed the first three today. What did I shoot, a 3-over to drop 6-over? Definitely super bummed about that.
“I just felt like my game felt so good coming into this. Not that I’m trying to compare to what I was a year and a half ago, but it really felt like I was there and my body felt better even than it did then and my game was definitely trending in the right way in the offseason.
“So everything went wrong. Today I was definitely — I didn’t play as well as yesterday which sounds crazy, but I probably had an eight- or nine-shot difference on the greens, so that always helps. I dropped in a couple 30-, 40-footers there to really get the momentum going.
“Yeah, I definitely felt the nerves down the stretch there. I knew I needed probably one more to get in, and it’s so windy out there; small putts are scary. Yeah, it was good to get the nerves going again. It’s been a while.
“So yeah, hopefully, make it in. And yeah this round is definitely — regardless of what happens — it’s definitely one that I’m going to look back on and use as confidence for this year.”
Sahith Theegala shares honest opinion of Sony Open golf course
Theegala is clearly a very big fan of Waialae Country Club. He was asked about the course after his second round.
Theegala replied: “Yeah, that’s the beauty of this place. I said it before, it’s a place that stands the test of time for sure. The weather definitely helps, but just such a cool-designed golf course. Ton of doglegs. Requires so much discipline, something that I still don’t know if I fully have.
“Yeah, it’s a course that you can go low even in windy conditions like this. You know, some of the downwind holes end up playing a lot easier and you definitely need to take advantage of that and hang just hang on on the into-the-wind and the crosswind holes. Yeah, if I have another kind of spurt like I did today tomorrow you never know.
“That’s the beauty of the PGA TOUR and why making a cut is such a sweat and so nervous. You know you’re just another round of golf or two rounds from being — having a great finish, and you just never know what that’s going to do for your entire season.”
If he can maintain that mentality throughout 2026, Theegala could be in line for his best year yet as a professional golfer.
Category: General Sports
