{"id":455735,"date":"2026-02-08T04:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T04:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/455735\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T04:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T04:42:12","slug":"sahith-theegala-battles-for-signature-event-start-spots-to-be-decided-sunday-at-wm-phoenix-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/455735\/","title":{"rendered":"Sahith Theegala battles for Signature Event start, spots to be decided Sunday at WM Phoenix Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

3H AGO<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Sahith<\/p>\n

Sahith Theegala holes 43-foot birdie putt on No. 7 at WM Phoenix Open<\/p>\n

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A<\/p>\n

Change Text Size<\/p>\n

Written by Jimmy Reinman<\/p>\n

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Hideki Matsuyama will try to fend off a crowded, star-studded leaderboard Sunday in pursuit of a third WM Phoenix Open title. But just as compelling is a second race unfolding behind him in the Arizona desert.<\/p>\n

The Aon Swing 5 standings, which award the top five players through the first portion of the 2026 PGA TOUR season access into the first two Signature Events, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational, will be finalized at TPC Scottsdale. With the WM Phoenix Open marking the final event of this opening stretch, the margins are razor-thin.<\/p>\n

Two players have all but secured their spots.<\/p>\n

Ryo Hisatsune, who played alongside countryman Matsuyama in Saturday\u2019s final group, sits one shot off the lead at 12-under. Pierceson Coody is three back at 9-under after another strong week. Both entered Sunday projected comfortably inside the top five thanks to consistent early-season form.<\/p>\n

Behind them, the race tightens considerably.<\/p>\n

Jake Knapp (11-under), Sahith Theegala (8-under) and Patrick Rodgers (4-under) are all in position to make a move. Nicolai H\u00f8jgaard, just one off the tournament lead, looms as a potential disruptor, especially if he were to capture his first TOUR victory Sunday.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the projected Aon Swing 5 standings entering the final round:<\/p>\n

1. Ryo Hisatsune \u2014 400.875
2. Pierceson Coody \u2014 356.5
3. Jake Knapp \u2014 264.167
4. Patrick Rodgers \u2014 244.792
5. Sahith Theegala \u2014 242.733
6. Matt McCarty \u2014 235.25
7. Nicolai H\u00f8jgaard \u2014 221.05<\/p>\n

Matt McCarty missed the cut and cannot improve his total, though he remains within striking distance should players ahead of him falter.<\/p>\n

Knapp\u2019s situation adds an extra wrinkle. He already secured a spot in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am through his FedExCup Fall finish (63rd), which was enough to earn entry into the expanded 80-player field. Should Knapp finish inside the Aon Swing 5, the list will not extend to the player who finishes sixth.<\/p>\n

Theegala may be the most intriguing storyline of all.<\/p>\n

After finishing 146th in the 2025 FedExCup Fall standings, he entered this season in the final year of his winner\u2019s exemption and searching for form following a neck injury that derailed his campaign last year. Instead, he has surged back into relevance with finishes of T31, T8 and T7 to begin the year, entering the WM Phoenix Open as the second-most popular betting choice behind Scottie Scheffler.<\/p>\n

His week has been uneven, with opening and third rounds of 70 surrounding a Friday 65, but at T16 and 8-under, he remains firmly in the hunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m over-cautious about trying to stay healthy,\u201d Theegala said. \u201cI get up a little more careful in the mornings and just a little more careful about what I\u2019m doing on a day-to-day basis. There is nothing I love more than playing golf, and being injured kind of robbed me of the fun I had during golf.\u201d<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Sahith<\/p>\n

Sahith Theegala on his return from injury, impact it had on golf swing<\/p>\n

\u201cSo just playing healthy, not going to take it for granted. One foot in front of the other and stay that way. It\u2019s a lot of discipline stuff. Sometimes bad luck happens. Just got to do what I can do to stay that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

By late Sunday afternoon, five players will have locked up entry into two of the TOUR\u2019s biggest early-season events. And at \u201cThe People\u2019s Open,\u201d the pressure extends well beyond the tournament trophy.<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-11jnzpa>img,.css-11jnzpa>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-11jnzpa::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;}]]>\"Image<\/p>\n

Feb 7, 2026<\/p>\n

Latest<\/a>\"Image\"Image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"3H AGO *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> Sahith Theegala holes 43-foot birdie putt on No. 7 at WM Phoenix Open *:not(style)~*:not(style){margin-top:0.5rem;-webkit-margin-end:0px;margin-inline-end:0px;margin-bottom:0px;-webkit-margin-start:0px;margin-inline-start:0px;}]]> A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-455735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}