Sahith Theegala has revealed the reason he ‘removed’ his 7-iron from his competition bag in favour of a second ‘8-iron’.
Theegala took a dim view of his 7-iron after a few too many errant shots during the 2024 FedEx Cup playoffs.
At the BMW Championship at Denver’s Castle Pines, Theegala made an unusual request to Ping, his equipment maker, asking them remove the “7” from his Ping Blueprint S irons and replace it with an “8” – using a different typeface, for identification.
A Ping spokesman described it as a “8+” iron.
Ping then applied some lead tape to the rear of the club to recover the weight lost when cutting down the number.
“Just straight vibes. Just wasn’t doing it with the 7-iron. You can ask this guy (caddie Carl Smith). It’s been my least favourite club in my bag, probably my whole life. I’m like, I’m done,” Theegala told GolfWRX.com.
“I chunked it, like, four times at (the FedEx St. Jude Championship in) Memphis and Colorado combined, hit in the water, probably six times total in two weeks, and I’m finally like, ‘alright, I’m over it’. Changed to the “7” with the number shaved off and a different font “8” on it.
“So it’s worked out. It’s one-for-one so far. I hit it nice (at the TOUR Championship, solo third).”
Mental block
Theegala doesn’t believe that seven, the number or the iron, is unlucky for him but admits that there is a mental block around it for him.
“It’s not even unlucky,” he added.
“I don’t think of it as unlucky. I just don’t like it. Just a preference, I guess. When I play high-number balls, I never play 7 either. I play 5, 6, and 8. Don’t play the 7s.
It is the first time that Theegala has tried an out-of-the-box solution to a problem and says it’s become a bit of a talking point.
“Yeah. First time I’ve ever done something like this.
“Just like I’ve never really been one to do anything cool with my clubs, so just scrape (the number 7) out, and get a few laughs,” he added.
He hasn’t had too many outings with the adapted 7-iron but feels that the change is working for him.
“You know, I think it’s working; just gonna keep rolling with it,” he continued.
