NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
Many hotels and skyscrapers pretend that they don’t have a 13th floor, kowtowing to superstition and triskaidekaphobia by just eliminating the number altogether and pretending that the 13th level of the building is the 14th floor – as if that’s totally normal.
Well, Sahith Theegala has decided to do the same thing with the number 7 – unless he has the misfortune to have to write it on his scorecard. He’s not really a heptaphobe; he’s just done with his 7-iron and decided to pretend that it’s another 8-iron instead.
Perfectly normal, right? Hey, whatever works. It’s hard to argue with the third-place finisher in the FedEx Cup.
Here’s what happened: Theegala apparently hit six bad shots with his 7-iron at the FedEx St. Jude and BMW Championships and decided he needed to do something about it before the Tour Championship at East Lake.
His solution was to ask the equipment-truck guys onsite at Castle Pines in Colorado to shave off the 7 on the bottom of his Ping Blueprint S iron and replace it with an 8. The Ping guys did just that, engraving an 8 with a distinguishing alternate font and applying some lead tape to the back of the iron formerly known as 7 to account for the lost mass and maintain proper balance.
So Theegala now has two “8-irons” in his bag even though one of them is only masquerading in the role. A Ping rep reportedly calls it Theegala’s “8+” iron.
Theegala told GolfWRX.com during his defense at last week’s Napa, California, event why he made a psychological switch to settle a score with his 7-iron.
“Just straight vibes,” Theegala said. “Just wasn’t doing it with the 7-iron. … It’s been my least favorite club in my bag, probably my whole life. I’m like, ‘I’m done!’ I chunked it, like, four times at Memphis and Colorado combined, hit in the water, probably six times total in two weeks, and I’m finally like, ‘All right, 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 East Lake].
“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 it out, and get a few laughs.
“You know, I think it’s working; just gonna keep rolling with it.”
Theegala tried to explain his beef with 7, but the truth is he doesn’t really know what it is.
“I’ve just never really loved number 7,” he said. “It’s not even unlucky. 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.”
For the record, Theegala made seven birdies on the back nine on Saturday at East Lake to put himself in contention and shot 7-under in the final round to secure his third-place FedEx Cup finish – for which he received $7.5 million.
Not all 7s are bad.
Scott Michaux