Theegala bags maiden PGA win

SAN FRANCISCO: Sahith Theegala cruised to a maiden PGA Tour title on Sunday (Monday in Manila), romping to victory by two strokes at the Fortinet Championship in northern California. Theegala, who started the final round sitting on a two-shot lead, never looked like squandering that advantage during a composed final round on the Silverado Resort’s north course in Napa. The 25-year-old from California carded a four-under-par 68 including seven birdies to finish on 21 under for a comfortable win with a crowd of close family and friends looking on from the galleries. Theegala’s procession to the title was effectively sealed on the 14th hole, when he rolled in a superb 20foot birdie putt to pull five shots clear. South Korea’s Kim Seong-hyeon, playing in the group ahead, raised hopes of a rally with back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th holes to trim Theegala’s lead to three shots, but the leader would not be denied. Theegala responded to Kim’s challenge by drilling a superb second shot from the fairway to seven feet of the hole on the par-four 16th. He then coolly rolled in the birdie putt to take a four-shot lead with just two holes remaining. A solid par on the par-three 17th left Theegala four clear heading to the par-five 18th, and although Kim bagged another birdie on the last to cut the lead back to three, the outcome was never in doubt. Theegala played conservatively to close with a bogey for an aggregate 267. “It doesn’t feel real, it’s probably not going to sink in for a while,” an elated Theegala said after the win.