Sahith Theegala showed real courage to fight back and eventually make the cut at the Sony Open on Friday.
Incredibly, Theegala bogeyed his first three holes of the day to drop back to six-over-par for the tournament, and he seemed destined to miss the cut at the Sony Open.
However, he then reeled off eight birdies and a bogey to end the first two rounds on one-under-par.
Despite his poor form last season, Theegala said he was not worried about his game before the Sony Open began earlier this week.
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The 28-year-old failed to record a single top-10 finish in 23 PGA Tour events in 2025, missing the cut six times along the way.
And whilst he only just made the cut on the number at the Sony, there have definitely been some positive signs for Theegala this week.
One thing in particular stood out for Theegala as something that gives him great hope for the 2026 season.
Sahith Theegala makes crazy admission after day two of the Sony Open
Theegala opened up with a first round 73 at the Sony Open.
However, his second round 66 was good enough to see him through to the weekend.
Speaking about his round, Theegala said: “Yeah, it was a pretty wild week. Bogeyed the first three today. What did I shoot, a 3-over to drop 6-over? Definitely super bummed about that.
“I just felt like my game felt so good coming into this. Not that I’m trying to compare to what I was a year and a half ago, but it really felt like I was there and my body felt better even than it did then and my game was definitely trending in the right way in the offseason.
“So everything went wrong. Today I was definitely — I didn’t play as well as yesterday which sounds crazy, but I probably had an eight- or nine-shot difference on the greens, so that always helps. I dropped in a couple 30-, 40-footers there to really get the momentum going.
“Yeah, I definitely felt the nerves down the stretch there. I knew I needed probably one more to get in, and it’s so windy out there; the small putts are scary. Yeah, it was good to get the nerves going again. It’s been a while.
“So, yeah, hopefully I make it. And, yeah, this round is definitely — regardless of what happens, it’s definitely a round that I’m going to look back on and use as a confidence boost for the start of this year.“
Theegala should be really proud of the way he managed to fight back in Hawaii on Friday.
And who knows, perhaps he will be able to mount a charge over the weekend.
Sahith Theegala delivers verdict on Sony Open golf course
Theegala is clearly a very big fan of Waialae Country Club.
After his second round, he was asked to give his opinion on the golf course at the Sony Open.
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He said: “Yeah, that’s the beauty of this place. I said it before, it’s a place that stands the test of time for sure. The weather definitely helps, but just such a cool-designed golf course. Ton of doglegs. Requires so much discipline, something that I still don’t know if I fully have.
“Yeah, it’s a course that you can go low even in windy conditions like this. You know, some of the downwind holes end up playing a lot easier and you definitely need to take advantage of that and hang just hang on on the into-the-wind and the crosswind holes. Yeah, if I have another kind of spurt like I did today tomorrow you never know.
“That’s the beauty of the PGA TOUR and why making a cut is such a sweat and so nervous. You know you’re just another round of golf or two rounds from being — having a great finish, and you just never know what that’s going to do for your entire season.“
It will be very interesting to see how Theegala performs for the remainder of the season.
The way he fought back on Friday should give him real encouragement that 2026 could be a great year for him.
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