2024 Sony Open in Hawaii: Top 10 power rankings at Waialae

Sahith Theegala is at the Sony Open in Hawaii for the second time in his three-year PGA Tour career.

On the bright side, he shot four rounds in the 60s in his Waialae debut as a rookie. The downside was 65-69-69-69 was only good for T-48th and 15 shots off the pace.

That result moved him from No. 382 in the Official World Golf Ranking to No. 369 at the time. He’s clearly in another stratosphere now.

Theegala’s runner-up finish last week at The Sentry vaulted him from No. 32 to a career-high No. 20. A big reason he’s made such great gains is his first win that came last fall at the Fortinet Championship.

It was a popular win among fans and his peers. Theegala’s endearing personality played well when he was featured on Netflix’s Full Swing. He’s got a family that is so joyfully invested in Sahith’s results.

They’ll be there to tell him to keep his head up after a close miss last week at Kapalua.

Theegala shouldn’t hold his head low after firing 28-under last week (64-69-68-63). He jumped out to the first-round lead and continued to play well.

The Pepperdine alum’s stats were solid across the board. One thing he would’ve liked to improve upon, and will need to prioritize more this week, is driving accuracy. Theegala was T-34th (56.67%) last week.

The 26-year-old Californian is adept at getting out of trouble, so hitting fairways seems to be less critical for Theegala than others.

He ranked 22nd on the PGA Tour last season in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (.267) and 17th in SG: Putting (.485).