Nation's top-ranked player, Pepperdine senior Sahith Theegala wins 2020 Haskins Award

It didn’t take long for Pepperdine men’s golf coach Michael Beard to realize he had something special in Sahith Theegala, maybe a few practices.

He remembers telling him as a freshman that he thought he could be an All-American.

“I knew he was really good,” remembers Beard, adding Theegala had traits you can’t teach. “Most of the things I did that freshman year was look for opportunities to encourage him and let him know how good he really was.”

Over the next five years, Theegala took the reigns of the Pepperdine program and showed the nation his talent. To those who follow college golf, it comes as no surprise Theegala has been named the 2020 winner of the Haskins Award, given annually to the player of the year in men’s college golf.

“Ever since I started college I had a goal to be one of the top college players when I was done with school,” Theegala told Golfweek.

“I look at the guys that have won the Haskins Award. … all these guys are winners on Tour and legends of the game,” he continued. “I went through the list and literally recognized every one of them. The thought of being on a list with names like that means the world to me.”

Names like: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, David Duval, Matt Kuchar, Patrick Cantlay and Matthew Wolff. Ever heard of them?

The Haskins Award was supposed to come with an exemption to the 2020 Military Tribute at the Greenbrier before the event was removed from the PGA Tour schedule. The Haskins Commission is working to find a new exemption for Theegala.

The Chino Hills, California, native was one of three finalists this year, besting Georgia junior Davis Thompson and 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up, Vanderbilt senior John Augenstein.

He’s the 50th winner of the award, and Pepperdine’s first.

In a shortened redshirt senior year, Theegala earned two wins at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational in October and the Waves’ Southwestern Invitational in January. In eight events he logged six top-10s, finishing inside the top 20 in the other two tournaments. A 69.04 scoring average and 101 birdies (fourth in the country) helped Theegala finish his college career as a first-team All-American the No. 1 ranked player in both the Golfweek/Sagarin and Golfstat rankings.

Theegala and the Waves’ rising star, freshman William Mouw, are similar in the fact that they’re both a force to be reckoned with on the course. Like north and south, east and west, their respective demeanor and how they entered school couldn’t be more different.

“(Mouw) came in as a freshman and said ‘I’m the guy, and everyone’s going to know I’m the guy,’ he just had that way about him,” explained Beard. “Sahith did not have that way about him. He was just a normal guy with a funny looking swing and great short game.”

Mouw pushed Theegala a lot in the shortened 2019-20 season. The two led Pepperdine to three team wins and kept the Waves consistently ranked as one of the nation’s best teams.

Earlier this spring, after the Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii (where Mouw won with Theegala’s putter), Theegala asked his coach if he was still going to be in the lineup’s No. 1 spot. Beard told him he was thinking of putting Mouw in the top spot, and his redshirt senior star agreed.

“He said ‘okay good, I want to be at No. 2. I want to have that edge,’” Beard said with a smile and chuckle. “I think Mouw made him elevate his game a little bit more.”

When you talk to Theegala, he’s so genuine and personable it seems like an act. But it’s not, he’s that nice of a kid.

Until you get on the golf course.

On the first tee he’ll disarm you with a smile and handshake, followed by some nice pleasantries. And then he kicks your ass for 18 holes.

“He can be a sweet, kind, thoughtful person, and at the same time he’s a cold-blooded killer on the golf course,” said Beard, noting that despite the fact Theegala was the top-ranked player in the country, he never tried to prove it.

“He’s not out there to play to prove that he belongs, he already knows he does,” added Beard. “He knows who he is enough where his identity isn’t in how he performs. It’s been so neat to see how he’s come in and how he’s leaving (school), both in golf and how he is as a person.”