"Embarrassing low amounts", "Donate 5k and call it a day": Fans react to Sahith Theegala's donations to LA agencies

On Thursday, January 9, Sahiith Theegala announced that he would donate money to two organizations helping victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. Theegala will donate $100 for each birdie and $250 for each eagle, based on his performance at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

The organizations that will receive Sahith Theegala's donations are the American Red Cross and Direct Relief. Fans have reacted to Theegala's gesture, with many commenting on the amount of money he plans to donate.

One X (formerly Twitter) user posted the following:

"Would have looked a lot better to not disclose those embarrassing low amounts."

"Weird to not just donate 5k and call it a day," another user said.

Here are some more reactions to Theegala's donation for LA fire relief:

"Must be a typo because that's peanuts for him," one fan posted.

"So what is this about $2500 if he plays well. That's like me donating a quarter," another fan said.

"Lol if he makes the cut and has 8 birdies and 1 eagle per round, that’s still only around $4K. Anything is better than nothing but damn," another user noted.

"Is this for birdies/eagles he makes, or everyone in the tourney? If for him, that’s some cheap," another user wrote.

The fires in Los Angeles have caused extensive damage to several neighborhoods, particularly in Pacific Palisades and Malibu. Several golf courses have been threatened, including Riviera Country Club, which will host the Genesis Invitational in five weeks.

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A look at the career earnings of Sahith Theegala

Sahith Theegala began his professional career in 2020 and has played 114 events, 103 of them on the PGA Tour. He has made the cut 89 times with 25 top-10 finishes, including one win and four runner-up finishes.

Those results have earned him $19.2 million. Most of that ($19.1 million) has come on the PGA Tour.

In financial terms, his best season to date was 2024, when he earned $8.5 million. A year earlier, he earned $7.3 million from his professional golf earnings.

The most lucrative individual tournaments of his career to date were second-place finishes at The Sentry 2024 and the RBC Heritage 2024. His paycheck in each of these tournaments was $2.16 million. Another important result in his career was his victory at the Fortinet Championship 2023, where he earned $1.512 million.

The above amounts refer only to his earnings within the course, not to other income such as that received from his sponsors. Sahith Theegala is sponsored by RBC, Korn Ferry, PING and ÜKG, among others.

Sahith Theegala managed to finish his first round at the Sony Open in Hawaii 2025, which was suspended due to darkness. Thanks to four birdies and one bogey, he is temporarily tied for 26th on 3 under.