Fortinet: The win Theegala won’t forget

NAPA — It wasn’t going to get away this time from Sahith Theegala. No bad bounce into the water. No story on how he had delighted the fans — not that he hadn’t.

This time, Theegala would start with a hug from his girlfriend. This time he would grab his first victory as a PGA Tour pro, winning in the sunshine amid vineyards of the Napa Valley. Cheers.

Theegala shot a final-round 68 at Silverado Resort’s north course, coming in with a 21-under total and a two-shot advantage over S.H. Kim. Cam Davis was another two back in the third.

Theegala was born and raised in Southern California and was a graduate of Pepperdine. He’s of Indian descent, which matters to the residents of India, but has nothing to do with his game.

Two years ago, a rookie, Theegala missed a playoff for the WM Phoenix Open, when a ball bounced into the water on the 17th hole. That tournament turned out to be the first victory for Scottie Scheffler. Now, Thegalla gets his first.

It seemed inevitable, certainly. The gala already had been in the Masters where this past April he made the cut. At this Fortinet, it was an issue of making sure.

“It’s funny you mention that,” he said about coming so close to Phoenix. “I vividly remember making birdie at Waste Management (Phoenix) thinking I’ve got a couple of holes coming up and I’ve just got to hold in there and stay around the lead. It was nice to be able to draw back on that. I was so much calmer today. At Waste I was kind of thrown in with all the top guys in the world. This week was a  much calmer and chiller atmosphere, and I think that helped.’”

Theegala, as you might imagine, is wildly popular among the large California population of those of Indian descent. His fans were plentiful and boisterous at the Fortinet.

“To be able to share such a, I don’t want to say once-in-a-lifetime moment, but it really is a once-in-a-lifetime moment, you only win once and you never even know if you’re going to win, right? So to be able to share this moment with all of them is really special and something that I’ll never forget.”