Sahith Theegala could have lost $5,000,000 because of his bunker penalty at East Lake

PGA Tour professional Sahith Theegala was in Atlanta, Georgia, for the Tour Championship. After a T46 and 48 finish at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and BMW Championship respectively, Theegala made it to the East Lake Golf Club where he performed decently.

However, in Round 3 of the Tour Championship, Theegala called a penalty on himself on the fourth hole when he called the PGA Tour officials as he felt he touched the sand while playing from the bunker. As per golf writer Kyle Porter, this move by Theegala could have cost him $5,000,000.

On social media platform X, Porter wrote:

"Sahith calling a penalty on himself in which he *probably* moved a couple of grains of sand an inch or two backwards would cost him ... $5 million if play ended right now. Insane sport."

Once Theegala spoke to the officials, they had a brief interaction after which the American golfer was handed a two-stroke penalty. After the end of Round 3, Sahith Theegala found himself in third position behind Scottie Scheffler (1st) and Collin Morikawa (2nd). Theegala scored 17-under after Round 3.

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Sahith Theegala explained what happened during the bunker shot

Sahith Theegala at the East Lake Golf Club during Round 4 of the 2024 TOUR Championship [Image via Getty]

After Sahith Theegala called upon the penalty on himself, he was appreciated by fans online for his honesty. NBC analyst Brad Faxon also praised Theegala by saying it was cool of the golfer to admit it because no one else would have seen that his swing touched the sand.

Post Round 3, Sahith Theegala gave clarification about what happened in the bunker. In an interview, Theegala described the events that led him to believe that he had moved the sand in the bunker. He said (via golf.com):

“I was in the bunker, took my backswing, and to give context, I through it in the bunker right on the lip; ball rolled up the lip and came back right on top of where it pitched. So it was a very unusual lie. It was teed up in the sand. It was a really nice lie.

“So it was an unusual lie, and I usually pick up the club and take it back, but because of the lie, right on my backswing I felt like I moved a few grains of sand for sure. In my peripheral, I thought I saw some of the sand move as I took my backswing."

Theegala also revealed that once he hit the shot, he spoke to Xander Schauffele about it. Theegala added that he and Schauffele did not believe it was a big deal since the former did not have any mal-intent behind his actions. However, Theegala received a penalty for touching the sand.