‘People take me as soft’ – Sahith Theegala hungry to break duck on PGA Tour after Grade A rookie season

Sahith Theegala has dismissed the notion that he is not hungry for success, and his goal for next season is to break his duck on the PGA Tour.

The American has had a superb rookie season on the PGA Tour, with five top 10s and a number of other decent showings.

He went agonisingly close with a T2 at the Travelers Championship, but did enough over the course of the season to reach the FedEx Cup play-offs.

The 24-year-old has graded his season an A, and is looking to keep progressing and get a win on the board.

His season is not yet over, as he made two superb putts on his final couple of holes at the BMW Championship on Sunday to earn his place in next week’s Tour Championship.

“It has been incredible,” Theegala told Eurosport. “I just had one goal or expectation at the start of the year and that was to keep my card. I am just so happy to get here.

“I just wanted to keep my card. I reached a point after the Waste Management (tied for third) and it freed me up for the rest of the season and I started getting better.

“Maybe the results did not get better, but I started playing really good golf and got myself close a few times. It has been a great year.

“The progress I have made with my team has been quick and it has been awesome as I have played the best golf of my life.

“I am just grateful for being in these positions, and I feel if I keep putting in the work hopefully I will get there.”

Theegala has won a legion of fans with his easy-going, free-flowing attitude. He says that masks a steely determination to win.

“I would grade it an A,” Theegala said when asked to rate his season. “It would be silly not to.

“People take me as soft, but I am very competitive. Outwardly I don’t show it a lot, but those closest to me know I hate losing as much as anything else.

“There are bad weeks, yes, but that is the nature of golf.

“I know I am not at that top-10-in-the-world level, there’s a long way to go.

“Next year I can have better results and it can be a B or a C and that would be cool to me to see that progress.”