Newton Square , Indian-American golfer Sahith Theegala slipped from a top-10 position after the opening round to tied-30th at the halfway stage of the PGA Championship, surviving a crippling triple bogey to safely make the cut.
After an impressive opening-round 68, the 28-year-old displayed sharp iron play early in his second round but struggled in the blustery afternoon conditions, carding a 3-over 73 to slip to 1-over after 36 holes.
However, Theegala was only five shots behind co-leaders Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley, who sat atop the leaderboard at 4-under-par 136 after rounds of 69-67 and 67-69 respectively.
Theegala was also just three shots behind world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and was tied for 30th alongside the likes of Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka.
Indo-British golfer, Aaron Rai, positioned himself strongly heading into the weekend after carding steady rounds of 70 and 69 to lie tied-16th at 1-under-par 139.
Another Indian-American golfer, Akshay Bhatia, saw his campaign end prematurely despite an otherwise consistent PGA Tour season, with severe inconsistency off the tee proving costly.
Indo-Canadian rookie Sudarshan Yellamaraju also endured a difficult initiation into major championship golf, missing the cut after rounds of 75 and 75.
Theegala’s round unravelled on the par-4 10th after he had mixed two birdies with a bogey between the sixth and ninth holes. His approach shot from a greenside bunker flew wildly off target, appearing to strike a branch before disappearing into dense vegetation.
Despite frantic efforts from television crews, marshals and volunteers, the ball could not be located within the three-minute search limit, forcing Theegala to take a lost-ball penalty and card a damaging triple-bogey seven.
Bhatia, after a promising start, lost his rhythm in Friday’s heavy gusts and sent several drives into Aronimink’s penal rough, leading to a string of costly bogeys on his second nine. Carding a four-over 74, Bhatia finished with a cumulative score of five-over-par 145.
He missed the weekend cut line, which fell at 4-over by a single, agonising stroke.
Rai’s disciplined, ball-striking style proved highly effective against the brutal Friday winds, allowing him to avoid heavy big-number scorecards. In fact, his strategic accuracy yielded nine birdies across the first 36 holes, putting him in a tie for the most birdies carded in the field through the first two rounds.
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