Sahith Theegala – Photo Credit: Flickr 

Rookie Sahith Theegala gives his India heritage and hard-working parents credits for helping him find success on the US PGA Tour.

The 23-year-old enters this week’s Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas after sharing eighth at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship, his first top-10 finish.

The American is also world number 369 and he led or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds in Mississippi. While he faded at the end, the effort turned out to be a turning point for his career.

“Just that experience on Sunday, final group, it’s something I’m going to carry on for the rest of my career,” said Theegala. “Just really staying in the moment and grinding through it all, it was a blast. Having that experience in the back of my mind is really going to prepare me well for the next time I’m in that position.”

He began playing golf at the age of six and even won his first junior event. It was a hint that the young golf prodigy might have a future in the sport and it was his parents’ efforts that launched his career.

“Very proud of my heritage and my background,” he said. “Both my parents were born and brought up in India. I spent a little bit of time in India when I was younger. I haven’t really been much recently.”

“Nobody in my family played sports. It just wasn’t a thing,” Theegala said. “But my dad when he came to the states, he ran some marathons and played some cricket and did all kinds of stuff, but he loved watching sports. So when I was young he would always have sports up on the TV. The three main ones were basketball, golf and cricket. So I got into basketball and golf, because, America.”

“We found out pretty quickly that I was really good at golf, so my father, he found a way with no background or knowledge to get me to the next level. My parents raised me to be resilient and not to let your guard down at any point and if you have an opportunity, might as well make the most out of it,” said the golf player. 

“I definitely think that Asian heritage part is a big part of why I’ve reached this point,” said Theegala who would love to play in India at some stage.