The elite amateur golf championship was held at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamosh, Washigton
Indian American Sahith Theegala of Chino Hills, California, has won the 23rd Sahalee Players Championship (SPC) by defeating Min Woo Lee of Australia as he birdied the first playoff hole.
The elite amateur golf championship was held at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamosh, Washigton, from July 5 to 7.
According to the tournament’s official website, the two players were tied at 3-under par after 72 holes and went back to play the par-5 18th hole again. Theegala hit his second shot to the back edge of the green, hole high. Lee flared his second shot into the trees on the right, and after a free drop from an embedded lie punched a remarkable 150-yard shot through the trees to 45 feet from the hole. Lee then the two-putted for par and Theegala dropped a 5-footer for birdie and the win.
“I was hitting the ball in some of the worst places possible,” Theegala said in a post-round interview. “I was all over the place, and saving pars from places I thought no way was going to happen.”
The 19-year-old Theegala, a junior at Pepperdine who debuted in PGA Tour this year, is finishing his sophomore year as WCC Co-player of the Year and selected as semi finalists for the Jack Nicklaus Award. He also qualified for the US Open 2017 at Erin Hills, and in two weeks will compete in the 51st Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, being held at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington.
Inaugurated in 1992, the Sahalee Players Championship annually showcases the best amateur golfers in the Pacific Northwest. Past champions of the tournament include Kylle Stanley, Casey Martin, Peter Uihlein and Nick Taylor.