What’s going on at the Valspar Championship? One day after Patton Kizzire booted a putter halfway to the moon, Sahith Theegala has decided to take out his frustrations on the tee box. Behold what happens when you send Theegala’s ball in the wrong direction.
Standing on the par-3 4th hole, Theegala flared a shot out to the right — not terribly so, but bad enough that he decided to give his club a sling. He tomahawked the offending stick off the tee box, and then proceeded to … par the hole, holing a 13-foot putt.
This was likely the buildup of a long series of frustrations for Theegala, who had bogeyed three of the past six holes, including the third right before this tee shot. (He started play Friday on the 10th hole.) Theegala had been two strokes off the lead after the first round, but will go into the weekend at least four strokes back after carding a 1-over round on the day.
Theegala’s form on the club throw was impeccable: strong pullback, effective first step, quick wrist snaps, smooth follow-through. You can see the club spiraling off into the distance there in the video above. Really, the only problem with his entire toss is that he violated one of golf’s prime tenets.
“If you are going to throw a club,” the temperamental legend Tommy Bolt once said, “it is important to throw it ahead of you, down the fairway, so you don’t have to waste energy going back to pick it up.”
Solid advice. Nothing worse than throwing a club and then having to go do the Walk of Shame — or, worse, send your innocent caddie to do it — in order to get the club back. Go for the fairway next time, Sahith. It’s easier than putting your tee shot there.
