After Getting Hurt at Tiger Woods’ Golf League, PGA Tour Pro Confesses Mistake That Worsened His Condition

Sahith Theegala’s 2025 season carried a shadow most fans only half understood. The oblique injury he first suffered in February while playing at Tiger Woods‘ TGL wasn’t just a nagging pain: it was the kind of setback that forced him to reshape his swing, reconsider his schedule, and push his willpower to its limits. Speaking with PGATOUR.com, Theegala detailed the moment it all began: “I had a TGL match right before Bay Hill … I hit a couple of drives like 183mph ball speed. One of the last drives I felt a little pop in my oblique, and I knew right away.”

From there, the timeline only grew messier. He tried to soldier through Houston and Valspar, but for nearly three months, the pain at the top of his swing and at impact never changed. The doctors’ advice was both liberating and cruel: he could keep playing if he could handle the pain. That meant Augusta wasn’t optional; it was a proving ground. Despite not being anywhere near healthy, Theegala “willpowered” his way to a made cut at the Masters. But in truth, every event after was borrowed time.

By the Truist Championship in Philadelphia, the adjustments he made to protect the oblique had already caused new damage. “I was starting to hike my left shoulder up, really pinching my neck in … and that caused me to jack up my neck,“ he admitted. The result was a pinched nerve that forced a withdrawal. And when the PGA Championship arrived, disaster struck again. On his very first swing in practice, Theegala said, “I literally felt like I re-tore my whole oblique. It was really bad, so that was when I knew I was gonna take these three weeks off.” The American golfer revealed it all during a conversation with writer Paul Hodowanic.

Even the Memorial presented by Workday couldn’t serve as his return. His first shot out of the rough brought immediate pain, shutting the door on his season until doctors finally insisted on a longer layoff: two, four, even six weeks at minimum. With both neck and oblique compromised, Theegala finally conceded to a break. For a player so defined by grit and persistence, the decision wasn’t just medical; it was personal. His TGL appearances, ironically meant to showcase golf’s future, had put his own body’s durability into question.

And yet, the very resilience that kept him grinding through pain is the same quality that shaped his rise long before he ever set foot on the PGA Tour.

Resilience and Milestones: what Sahith Theegala’s career is made of

Sahith Theegala’s willingness to fight through setbacks mirrors the way he carved his reputation in golf’s unforgiving ecosystem. Long before he lifted the trophy at the 2023 Fortinet Championship, his maiden PGA Tour victory, he had already built a résumé that spoke volumes. At Pepperdine University, he didn’t just shine; he dominated, becoming a three-time NCAA All-American and one of the few players in history to sweep college golf’s most prestigious honors in a single season.

In 2020, Theegala captured the Fred Haskins Award (the nation’s most outstanding collegiate golfer), the Ben Hogan Award (top collegiate player overall), and the Jack Nicklaus Award (given to the most outstanding player in college golf, including NCAA competition). His collegiate brilliance translated quickly to the professional stage. Representing the United States twice in the Arnold Palmer Cup, Theegala earned his first PGA Tour starts through sponsor exemptions in 2020, a window he maximized with strong performances that hinted at his future.

That same future became reality at Silverado when he closed out the Fortinet Championship in 2023, proving he belonged not just as a promising talent but as a PGA Tour winner. For Theegala, each accolade and milestone has been less about individual trophies and more about steady progress. Injury may have forced him to pause in 2025, but his track record suggests the layoff is only a detour, not a derailment. His story isn’t just about playing through pain; it’s about an athlete who has always turned challenges into stepping stones.