“Conversations with Champions presented by Sentry” is a weekly series from Golfweek. This week: Sahith Theegala and Tom Hoge.
Theegala and Hoge won the 2022 QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, after rallying late after being down two shots entering the final round.
Theegala, who hit his best drive of the day on 18, drilled a birdie putt to give him and Hoge a one-shot lead. Ryan Palmer and Charley Hoffman, who led after the first and second rounds, each had looks for birdie but both missed their putts.
Here’s everything the Theegala and Hoge duo said after winning the 2022 QBE Shootout.
Q: You guys kind of made it hard on yourselves coming down the stretch there by not birdieing 17. Was there any sort of conversation going to 18 to pump each other up?
Sahith Theegala: No, I think we’ve been playing so well all week and vibing off each other, I mean, it’s to be expected to have one or two bad holes and it just happened to be 17. But we’ve been playing well all week. Like we said at the start of the round, we just need two chances and we gave ourselves two really good changes on 18. Yeah, it was kind of unspoken I think that like let’s go and get this last hole.
Q: Tom, I think when you holed that long birdie put at the par 3 12th, I think you guys were either tied for the lead or got to the lead for the first time. Did you have a conversation then about let’s go, let’s go, or were you just sort of getting into the mix of it right then and you turned it on?
Tom Hoge: Really the only conversation we had today was in the scramble and we were like 5 under through 12, which was probably our worst start of all three formats. It was a bit of an issue at that point, but we were playing well. Like you said, nothing really needed to be said, just kind of get on to the next hole and keep trying to make birdies. I mean, you just felt like you had to birdie every hole out there for the way that the rest of the field’s been playing, so it was very simple what we had to do.
Q: Sahith, talk about that little problem you had on the first?
ST: Yeah.
Q: What happened?
ST: It’s funny, I was just telling my mom at breakfast, knocked on wood how healthy I’ve been for the last four, five years, and testament to my trainer, Josh. I literally have played every tournament seemingly 100 percent. First swing of the day on hole 1, I got under it and I knew I had to save it, and I saved it and I just pulled the left side of my, it’s like my oblique, I think. It’s not even my back really. I was trying to massage my back to free this up, but as I kept swinging and I think a little bit of adrenaline too, it got a lot better on the back nine. It feels much better now. I think it’s just something I need to take three or four days off and it’ll be good. But I’m going to take more than that off. Yeah, no worries at all.
Q: Speaking of adrenaline, that putt you holed on the last to make that birdie first and force them to make theirs, which they didn’t, how good a feeling was that for you?
ST: Oh, that felt great. It just felt great to contribute a little bit. Tom was really holding me up pretty much all around, he made so many really big putts. Again, I think it’s just a testament to having two good looks. I was just a little bit away, but I knew Tom’s been putting well and it kind of freed me up a little bit to be like all right, let’s give this thing a great run. To have that go in, it felt so good, can’t even explain how good it felt.
A birdie at the last seals the deal 🏆 @SRTheegala and @HogeGolf earn the win @QBEShootout. pic.twitter.com/p6J2fx3TJG
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 11, 2022
Q: How good did it feel for you when you saw it go in?
TH: Felt great watching, yeah. It was an interesting day because I don’t think either one of us played our best for 18 holes, but we kind of timed it right. I got off to some good starts to both nines and then Sahith kind of brought me home. You know, kind of the ham and egg worked really well for us and holed the timely putts when we needed to, for sure.
Q: You guys are a true rookie team this year. I think the only other time a rookie team has won was 2011, Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele, apart from the first event way back in ’99. How meaningful is that for you guys to pull this off in your first go-round here?
ST: It means a lot, it’s awesome. I think we got along really well out there. We’re both pretty chill and pretty level headed and don’t go to extreme either way and I think we just fed off each other’s energy. We were talking about it, I think our games are just really good for like partnering in this format. Tom was striping his irons yesterday and that was huge in alternate shot, he left me a lot of kick-ins for birdie, and I was able to get it down there a little bit further than I normally with my tee shots. It was just a good, it just worked out great. And definitely a little bit ham and egg today, which is great.
Q: I know it’s not an official win, but it’s your first, and you already won this year, Tom. Nice way to finish off the year, I’m guessing.
TH: It was fun to be in contention. I don’t care what you’re playing for, it’s always fun coming down the stretch there. I had a great week here this week. The weather’s perfect, I wanted to come back so I was like, we’ve got to get a win so hopefully we can come back in the future.
Q: What was the thought process when you watched Ryan on 17 hit the chip back to himself and then chip it in?
TH: I guess you’re always expecting that. Charley still had a good look there as well that he could have made birdie. You just expect that you’ve got to make birdies coming down the stretch. I think that we were 32 or 33 under and just felt like you had to birdie 17 and 18 coming in to take care of business ourselves. Sahith made his putt, I still was expecting to go to a playoff there with the two looks that those guys both had. So certainly felt very fortunate to get the win right there.
Q: 2022 for both of you guys has been a very much a breakout season. When you look back on it, each of you, what are your sort of takeaways for the year?
ST: Yeah, I just, I got my PGA Tour card last year and my only goal or expectation was to keep my PGA Tour card. I’ve said it a lot, my dreams never really got past getting a PGA Tour card, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t exceed my own expectations. I haven’t really thought about it too much, I’ve just tried to let my momentum keep rolling and try and get better and enjoy the whole thing. It’s been an unbelievable year and to cap it off this week with Tom is just a cherry on top. It’s been a really good year and I’m very grateful for it.
TH: I think for me, my eighth year on Tour wrapped up, I just look back, you get in more situations like today where you’re near the lead coming down the stretch and you get a little more comfortable helps out in the future. So I was able to put myself there a few times this year and was able to come up with a win finally. So that felt great and made it easier today drawing on that a little bit. You look at Sahith’s career, to be in these situations at his age, certainly expect he’ll be doing a lot of these winner’s interviews coming up in the future.
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