Golf has the tendency to throw up some surprises and even the world’s best aren’t immune from some relatable moments.
Just ask Sahith Theegala who, on Friday at the PGA Tour’s Baycurrent Classic, not only found his golf ball stuck up a tree, but later, his umbrella.
Starting his second round, Theegala carded a one-under-par front nine to sit two-over-par for the event, as he made his way to the par 4 11th at Yokohama Country Club, the hardest on the layout.
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Pulling his tee shot left, the ball never dropped back down on to the fairway and, as Theegala and his playing partners Jordan Smith and Tomohiro Ishizaka walked up to the tree, it was believed the ball had stayed up in the branches.
In the video posted to the PGA Tour’s social media channels, Theegala explains the debacle that occurred, with the PGA Tour winner stating: “We all heard it hit the tree really loud, but nobody ever saw the ball come down.
“I didn’t really think it would get stuck in the trees. I guess it popped up in the air and just embedded itself in some leaves and branches.”
Theegala during the second round of the Baycurrent Classic
(Image credit: Getty Images)
What then followed can only be described as golf being a ‘normal sport’, as Theegala called a Rules Official over, before his caddie then attempted to knock the ball out of the tree with an umbrella…
Something that ended with a humorous outcome.
Being told by the Rules Official that he must identify the golf ball stuck in the tree, Theegala then proceeds to look through his rangefinder and, although he “marks a large portion of his golf ball,” he couldn’t see any markings on the ball.
The solution? Well, that involved Theegala’s caddie, Carl Smith, throwing an umbrella up into the tree, with Jordan Smith’s caddie, Josh, joining him in the event.
Eventually, after numerous attempts, the caddies did take enough of the tree down for Theegala to identify his golf ball, but only after his caddie got his umbrella stuck on the branches in an attempt to knock the ball down.
Mackenzie Hughes’ golf ball got stuck in a tree while in contention at the 2021 US Open
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Upon identifying the ball, Theegala took an unplayable ball as, under Rule 19.2c, specifically ‘Reference Point’, it states: “When the ball lies above the ground, such as in a tree, the reference point is the spot directly below the ball on the ground.”
A one-shot penalty occurred for the American who, after taking the drop, fired his iron to the left-side of the green, before two-putting for a bogey five.
Going on to shoot a one-over-par back nine, Theegala then followed that up with a two-over-par third round on Saturday, as he dropped into 69th spot at five-over-par, just three places above Aldrich Potgieter, who is at the foot of the leaderboard.