Theegala Named to USA's Arnold Palmer Cup Team
3/14/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
MALIBU, California " Sahith Theegala of the Pepperdine men's golf team will represent the United States at the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup, a Ryder Cup-like competition featuring the best college golfers from the U.S. and internationally.
This year's event takes place at the Evian Resort Golf Club in France from July 6-8.
Theegala (Chino Hills, Calif./Diamond Bar HS) will become the second Wave to play in this event, joining Michael Putnam (2005)
Theegala, a junior, is more than halfway toward one of the best careers in program history. The 2017 All-American ranks #1 all-time in scoring average (70.81) at Pepperdine through two-plus seasons.
Theegala already owns two of the top five single-season scoring averages in program history: 70.95 as a sophomore (#2) and 71.06 as a freshman (#5). He's having another great year with a 70.27 scoring average this season (which is on pace to be #1). He has 55 career below-par rounds, already tied for #2 in Pepperdine history, in 101 total rounds (he's had 17 in 26 rounds this season). He's finished in the top 20 in 26 of 35 career tournaments, including T-19th at the 2017 NCAA Championships. He has two career victories (the 2017 Southwestern Invitational and the 2018 Waves Challenge).
Theegala earned All-American third team status from the GCAA and honorable mention from Golfweek in 2017, and he was a semifinalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award. He was the 2017 WCC co-Player of the Year, the 2016 WCC Freshman of the Year and is a two-time All-WCC first teamer. He ranked #16 by Golfweek in the final 2017 individual ratings.
In 2017-18, Theegala is on the Ben Hogan Award and Fred Haskins Award watch lists. He earned the WCC's first Player of the Month award of the season in September, which was the third such honor of his career. He won the spring-season-opening Waves Challenge by a Pepperdine-record 16 strokes.
He currently ranks #12 nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings.
Pepperdine is in the middle of playing two of the best tournaments in the country back-to-back. The Waves tied for sixth place last week at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, and next week they'll be at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational in Palm City, Florida.
