Winner's Bag
The clubs Sahith Theegala used to win the 2023 Fortinet Championship
Orlando Ramirez
With one round to play at the Fortinet Championship, Sahith Theegala said, “I feel like I'm just scrambling my butt off a little bit.” It was more of the same on Sunday en route the 25-year-old’s first career PGA Tour win. Holding on a five-shot lead at one point at Silverado Resort’s North Course, Theegala kept the momentum going with a big up-and-down from 36 yards for par on the par-4 13th hole. He followed it with a huge right-to-left sweeper from 20 feet for a birdie on 14 that left little doubt who was going to win in California.
Although Theegala never let up Sunday—he made seven birdies while posting a closing four-under 68 for a two-shot win—there was no denying his short game and work with the putter kept things from going awry during the week. He got up and down 14 of 18 times with his Ping Glide wedges to rank third for the week in scrambling.
Although Theegala uses the Glide 4.0 for his 50- and 54-degree wedges, he sticks with the older Glide 2.0 TS (thin sole) for the lob wedge. “I’ve always preferred less bounce and a thinner sole on the lob wedge,” he told Golf Digest in 2021. “It’s pretty much the only club I use around the greens, even on a long pitch. I’ll just turn it in and hit a hook spinner. I don’t mess with the grinds. I love the way it sits on the ground. I feel like I can really get under the ball.”
He also was good at getting the ball in the hole, too. After ranking 118th in strokes gained/putting last year, he finished second in that category this week, picking up more than nine shots on the field. Theegala’s putter is a Ping TR 1966 Anser 2 model at 37 inches in length and 3 degrees of loft.
Also of note: Theegala switched irons this week to Ping’s Blueprint S model with True Temper Project X shafts.
Theegala averaged 302.8 yards off the tee with his Ping G430 LST driver, which is the low-spin version in the G430 line. “I’ve always fought spin a little with my driver,” Theegala said. “In fact, it was the worst club in my bag until the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school. Then I got fitted with the right head, shaft, length and it was game-changing. I’ve always hit down on the driver, so spin has been an issue, but LST is a low-spin driver so things are really good now.”
Even better with PGA Tour win No. 1 under his belt.
G430 MAX / G430 SFT / G430 LST / G430 HL
WHAT IT DOES: The engineers at Ping like to say, “We don’t really drop things that tend to be working.” The G430 line continues to employ a heavy dose of forgiveness, stability and the aerodynamic efficiencies of turbulator ridges on the crown. But the G430 lineup further amplifies an ultra-forgiving design by introducing an improved variable-thickness face pattern and structural support for more energy transfer at impact.
WHY WE LIKE IT: Ping gets ample credit for the big things, like its clubhead stability, but it does the little things well, too. The G430’s face curvature, with less loft on the lower portion of the face, reduces spin so that weaker shots fly more efficiently. Read more>>>
What Sahith Theegala had in the bag at the 2023 Fortinet Championship
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Ping G430 LST (Project X HZRDUS TX), 10.5 degrees
5-wood: Ping G430 Max, 18 degrees
Irons (3): Ping i210; (4-PW): Ping Blueprint S
Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 (50, 54 degrees); Ping Glide 2.0 (58 degrees)
Putter: Ping TR 1966 Anser 2