PGA Championship star pulls out of event just hours before opening tee
Sahith Theegala has been forced to withdraw from the PGA Championship less than 24 hours before the major gets underway. The world No.31 has claimed two professional wins, claiming his first PGA Tour event at the 2023 Fortinet Championship.
He has made two appearances at the PGA Championship so far, finishing T40 in 2023 before improving to 12th last year. His best performance at a major came at the 2023 Masters when he came home in ninth place.
He ended up a lowly 29th in the Masters last month, which was won by Rory McIlroy. But the 27-year-old will not have a chance to get his season back on track at the second major of the year.
The PGA Championship gets underway on Thursday at Quail Hollow. More than 150 players will take to the course, but Theegala will not be one of them after picking up an injury during last week's Truist Championship.
The American was forced to drop out of that event midway through the tournament in Philadelphia. While he travelled to North Carolina, even praticising on Tuesday and Wednesday, it has been confirmed he will not participate.
A statement from the PGA Tour read: "Sahith Theegala WD from the PGA Championship with a neck injury; Alex Smalley in."
Theegala had been due to tee off on the 10th hole at 11.27a.m GMT along with Max McNealy and Sepp Straka on Thursday. But with just 15 hours notice, he has been replaced by Alex Smalley.
Theegala did not take part in the final round in Philadelphia. Before his withdrawal, he had fallen to the bottom of the scoreboard with an eight-over 78 in the third round.
The American's girlfriend, JuJu Chan, revealed he hurried through the back nine to finish "as quickly as possible" due to the discomfort in his neck, and she asked her social media followers to "wish Sahith a speedy recovery" last week.
Theegala has endured a tough season so far, managing just two top-25 finishes in his 14 starts this season. Meanwhile, McIlroy is one of the favourites to win this weekend's major, though the Northern Irishman is trying to keep his focus.
"Everyone needs to have goals and dreams and I've been able to do something that I dreamed of for a long time," said the world number two. "I'm still going to set myself goals, I'm still going to try to achieve certain things.
"I still want to create a lot of other highlights and high points but I'm not sure if any other win will live up to what happened a few weeks ago. If I can try to get the best out of myself every week, I know what my abilities are, I know the golf that I can play.
"If I keep doing that every week, especially in these four big ones each year, I know I'll have my chances. I feel like I burdened myself with the career Grand Slam stuff and I want to enjoy this. I want to enjoy what I've achieved and enjoy the last decade or whatever of my career.
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