Atlanta (USA), Sep 1 (PTI) Indian-American golfer Sahith Theegala moved up one more place, into third spot, at the Tour Championship here despite calling a two-shot penalty on himself in the third round.
As world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler birdied four of his last five holes in the third round for a 5-under 66, which brought him closer to finishing the season with a USD25 million FedExCup prize, the conversation centred around Theegala who called a two-shot penalty on himself for touching the sand on the third with his club while coming out of the bunker.
The video was not clear but Theegala decided to informed the officials about the infraction, and his par turned into a double bogey. Had the Indian-American not informed the officials, he could have been two shots closer to the golfers ahead of him.
Scheffler, who started the week at 10-under as per the FedExCup format, is now 26-under with rounds of 65-66-66 in the three rounds. He was five ahead of Collin Morikawa (66-63-67), who started the week at 4-under and is now 21-under, while Theegala, who started the week at 3-under, has moved to 17-under with 67-66-66.
“Pretty sure I breached the rules, so I’m paying the price for it, and I feel good about it. I’m not 100 per cent sure. But I’d say I’m 98-99 per cent sure that some sand was moved,” said Theegala.
Theegala, who birdied the second, saw his par turn to double bogey on the third. He parred the next seven holes till the 10th. Then he had seven birdies and a bogey in the next eight holes with a back-nine of 6-under 30 for a round of 66. At 17-under, he is nine shots behind Scheffler.
Indian-American Akshay Bhatia (71) and Aaron Rai (72) are placed tied-22nd at 5-under.
Morikawa, who began the week six shots behind Scheffler, got within two shots of the lead when he holed a birdie putt from just inside 10 feet on the par-5 sixth hole. Scheffler then took over.
Scheffler holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the seventh, while Morikawa came up short of the green and then missed a 3-foot par, which meant a two-shot swing that swelled the lead to four.
Morikawa three-putted for par from 60 feet on the par-5 15th, and then birdied three of his last four holes for a 67.
Scheffler’s five-shot lead is not the largest since this format began in 2019. Scheffler had a six-shot lead two years ago but finished one shot behind a hard-charging Rory McIlroy.
The Open Championship and PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele carded 71 and is 10 behind. PTI Cor AM AM AM
