Sahith Theegala - Genesis Open Photo
PACIFIC PALISADES, CA (February 13, 2017) -- If
you had plans to hangout with Sahith Theegala on
Thursday he is going to have to happily cancel them.
Why? Well because he has a Thursday Genesis Open
tee time.
The Pepperdine sophomore made the turn at Riviera
Country Club at 2 under and despite the lead getting
as small as one on the back nine Theegala was able
to hold on and win the Genesis Open Collegiate
Showcase. With the win Theegala, who beat five
others, earned himself an exemption into this weeks
PGA Tour stop.
"My only goal for the week is to have fun," Theegala
told the on-course reporter following his round.
By the time Theegala teed off on the closing hole he
had restored his lead to two-strokes and despite
bogeying the final hole Theegala had done more then
enough throughout his round.
Theegala made national headlines last year by
making a run to the U.S. Amateur quarterfinals as
the 61-seed. Now six months before the 2017 U.S.
Amateur, Theegala will get an extended sneak peak
at this years host venue, Riviera Country Club.
Making up the reminder of the collegiate field were
Colorado's Jeremy Paul, Kentucky's Tyler (Chip)
McDaniel, Texas' Gavin Hall, UCLA's Tyler Collier and
Washington's Corey Pereira.
The college players were also joined by program
alumnus including world No. 6 Jordan Spieth who
won the NCAA Team Championship with Texas in
2012, Kentucky alum J.B. Holmes and former UCLA
Bruin Kevin Chappell. Each group also included two
amateur playing alumni from the school.
During the round the foursomes played a best-ball
competition against each other with the winning
team earning a $50,000 donation to that schools golf
program.
This year that prize went to Pepperdine with
Theegala being joined by PGA pro Jeff Gove, Paul
Porteous and Matt Stapleton.
Last year Charlie Danielson of Illinois won the
Collegiate Showcase with a 3-under 68 before going
onto to make the cut. In 2015 at the inaugural event
Will Zalatoris of Wake Forest earned the top prize.
-The Genesis Open contributed to this story
View results for Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase
ABOUT THE Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase
The Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase was
founded in 2015. It is a chance for collegiate players
to play with PGA Tour alumni from their respective
schools. Two simultaneous competitions take place:
In the individual competition, the collegiate players
will play their own ball to record an 18-hole score.
When the Collegiate Showcase was founded, the
winner experienced the excitement of playing in the
Genesis Invitational that same week at Riviera. With
the status of the Geneisis Invitational changed to
"elevated" the showcase changed to awarding a
playing spot in the
Genesis Scottish Open, a co-sanctioned PGA TOUR &
DP World Tour event played in July.
In the team competition, the professional and the
two amateurs (playing at a specified percentage of
their most current and verified handicap) will team
up to play a best ball format (one-ball). The low
Professional and Amateurs team will take home the
Champions Trophy for their school and a nice check
going to their university's golf program.
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