Pepperdine's Sahith Theegala takes Patriot All-America lead
Sahith Theegala
(Golfweek Photo)
LITCHFIELD PARK, AZ (December 30, 2016) -- With
a second round 4-under 66 Pepperdine sophomore
Sahith Theegala has taken the Patriot All-America
lead at the Wigwam Golf Gold Course. Theegala will
now be charged with trying to protect a one-stroke
lead over Ole Miss sophomore Braden Thornberry
and first round leader, Andrew Whalen of
Northwestern.
Theegala, who exploded onto the national scene with
a run to the quarterfinals at the 2016 U.S. Amateur,
did most of his work on Friday during the middle
portion of his round. A string of pars began his round
before he birdied four-times from Nos. 8-12.
Theegala dropped his only shot of the round on No.
14 but rebounded with a 16th hole birdie.
Thornberry continued his strong play with a second
round 1-under 69 to move to 5-under. The Ole Miss
standout birdied Nos. 6 and 7 back-to-back and
bogeyed No. 10 for his only dropped shot of the
round.
Whalen, a redshirt senior at Northwestern, started
play one-stroke ahead and was fortunate to end the
round only one behind. After posting a 5-under
bogey-free 65 on Thursday Whalen had to scramble
late in his second round. Through 15-holes on
Friday, Whalen was 3-over and seemingly in a free
fall prior to birdieing his final three holes.
The top-5 is being rounded out by UNLV's Shintaro
Ban and Arizona's Jordan Gumberg who are both 4-
under and tied for fourth.
Among those still in the mix are Illinois' Nick Hardy
(-2) and USC's Sean Crocker (-1).
ABOUT THE Patriot All-America
The Wigwam and the Golf Coaches Association
of America (GCAA), in partnership with the
Folds of Honor Foundation present the Patriot All-
America Invitational. It's one of the most unique
events
in all of golf.
84 top collegiate players named to the PING All-
America team in NCAA Division I,II and III, NAIA
and
NJCAA, AJGA, one player from each military
academy
and select international players compete in a 54-
hole
championship.
Each player honors our military by carrying a bag
with
the name, rank and service of a fallen or severely
wounded soldier embroidered on the pocket.
Following
the championship, the bags go to the players’ school
for auction, with proceeds benefiting the Folds of
Honor.
View Complete Tournament Information