After a withdrawal, alternate Theegala will be in the field at St. Andrews.
Sahith Theegala will be making a well deserved appearance in the 150th Open Championship in place of Daniel Berger who withdrew last week.
Citing the same back injury that forced him out of the John Deere Classic last week, Berger will be forced to sit out the oldest of the major championships being held this year at the home of golf.
Berger’s nagging back injury has been a problem for him most of the 2022 season. He also was forced out of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am back in February, an event that he was defending his win from the previous season.
With the unfortunate announcement of Berger’s withdrawal came the encouraging news of his replacement.
Theegala will be making his 3rd major championship appearance, and his first at the Open Championship. The former collegiate All-American at Pepperdine, Theegala has two appearances at the U.S. Open, 2017 while still at Pepperdine, and 2021 as he transitioned to the PGA Tour.
Theegala has been playing well in his rookie season on tour, and has made it up to 62nd in the Official World Golf Ranking, and 36th in the Fedex Cup Ranking.
| Event | Date | Finish |
| Sanderson Farms Championship | 10/3/21 | T8 |
| WM Phoenix Open | 2/12/22 | T3 |
| Valspar Championship | 3/20/22 | T7 |
| The Memorial Tournament | 6/5/22 | T5 |
| Travelers Championship | 6/26/22 | T2 |
In his 26 events this season Theegala has made the cut 21 times. In those 21 cuts he has made the top-25 nine times, the top-10 five times, one 3rd place finish and a runner up.
The lone runner up finish came in brutal fashion at the Travelers Championship after Sahith was leading the tournament heading into the final hole of the tournament.
An errant drive ended up in the fairway bunker up against the lip of the bunker. After a lengthy conversation with his caddy, Sahith decided to go for the green instead of a safer choice to layup and make sure he exited the bunker.
His mighty swing resulted in a thin stroke that hit the front of the bunker and returned near the ball’s original position. Realizing his tournament was in jeopardy his second stroke from the bunker was a layup that found the fairway just short of the green.
In his post round interview Sahith acknowledged that he had to hit the bunker shot fat to make sure it exited the sand.
“I thinned it, I knew I had to hit it fat and I thinned it” Theegala noted posted round.
He went on to bogey the hole and finished in second place to Xander Schauffele.