It started as an oblique tweak from a random swing in early March. By late April, the pain spread to Sahith Theegala’s neck, a product of overcompensation. His first swing at the PGA Championship in May made him feel like he “re-tore my whole oblique again.” Yet Theegala persisted, insistent on keeping one of his prime years on TOUR alive.

The Memorial Tournament presented by Workday was his breaking point.

“The first shot I hit out of the rough, immediate pain. I'm like, 'All right, now I'm actually done,'” Theegala said.

The odyssey ended in what Theegala had hoped to avoid the whole time: a lost season.

Theegala looks back on that stretch now with a hint of regret, but mostly an admirable sense of gratitude. The injury weakened his standing on TOUR, but led to several notable revelations.

"Yeah, it was a lost season," Theegala said, but it invigorated his love for the sport as he was forced to stay away from it. It also led trainers to find a “ticking time bomb” in his posture that would have led to even worse injuries down the line. As he prepares for his 2026 season debut at the Sony Open in Hawaii next week, both will be pivotal in Theegala’s hopeful climb back to relevance as he faces heightened stakes.

“I'm just excited for another year on TOUR,” Theegala said. “It feels like a fresh start.”

It’s also a year with serious implications. Theegala isn’t guaranteed status beyond this season, with his top-30 exemption from the 2024 TOUR Championship ending after 2026. He’s not in any Signature Events yet and will face stiff competition for any sponsor exemptions. He’s not in the major championships either, and isn’t presently close to qualifying for them with a world ranking hovering around 120th. He was part of the last Presidents Cup team, but is well off the radar to play for the U.S. this September. And at 28 years old, he’s not ready to spend a second year of his prime toiling through the fatty middle of the PGA TOUR – nor can he afford the injury bug to linger for much longer.

That last component is particularly crucial and prescient, given what one of Theegala’s contemporaries, Will Zalatoris, has battled. He’s undergone multiple back surgeries since 2023, derailing an immensely promising career. Or what Daniel Berger dealt with for several seasons, sidelined with extensive back pain. Or what Justin Thomas is presently hoping to curb with an early intervention surgery to limit back flare-ups. Theegala was destined for a similar path. Though none of his injuries in 2025 were directly related to his back, his posture was inevitably going to lead to back problems, Theegala’s doctors told him.

“I would get a little bit of a double curve,” Theegala explained. “And even though I've never had any double back issues, the experts said it's just kind of a ticking time bomb if your low back isn't being used. Like, basically, I wasn't using it at all, and I was putting all the pressure into my upper thoracic, and that's part of the back that's not supposed to turn.”

As Theegala returned toward the end of 2025, it was a common sight to see the American use his fingers to push his core inward at the address to promote the ideal posture.

“Like even a swing video I just took there, looking at my posture, my posture looks really good,” Theegala said while standing on the 18th tee of Sea Island’s Seaside Course the day before The RSM Classic in November. "I'll just, like, push into here (my core), just as a reminder. And I'm not necessarily trying to push it back. I'm just trying to engage my glutes and my lower back and my core. That’s the big thing.”

That will remain a key feel for 2026 as Theegala plays a heavy early-season schedule with an eye on playing himself into Signature Events. Theegala is in the field for the Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express, Farmers Insurance Open and WM Phoenix Open. It’s a mindset that Theegala is excited to embrace. One that helped fuel his rapid improvement in his first two years on the PGA TOUR. As much as he would prefer to have status locked up, his current situation will push Theegala to chase – and be grateful for every tournament he gets into.

“Obviously, you're gearing up for the majors and the big events and you want to peak then, but you know, they’re all PGA TOUR events,” Theegala said. “So I'm just excited for it, each and every opportunity I'm gonna get next year. Just trying to make the most out of them.”