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.
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