Indian-American Theegala placed fifth at Fortinet Championship

Indian-American Sahith Theegala continued to build on his fine run and was placed fifth at the Fortinet Championship golf here.

He took the momentum from the just-finished PGA Tour season to the new one.

The 24-year-old Californian of Indian origin, added a 3-under 69 to his first round 67 to get to 8-under 136. He was tied fifth at the halfway stage.

Leading the pack were defending champion Max Homa (65-67) and former Masters champion, Danny Willett (68-64) and they were two clear of overnight leader, Justin Lower (63-71) and Korea Byeong Hun An (66-68), who celebrates his 31st birthday on Saturday and hopes to mark it with a win on Sunday. It is also his 150th start on the PGA Tour.

Theegala, who qualified for the Tour Championship in his rookie year, birdied fifth, eighth, and ninth on the front nine but dropped shots on 13th and 14th before picking up a stroke each on 16th and 18th.

His plan is to get a fast start in the Fall season and build on it as 2023 begins with the events in Hawaii, where he will feature in the Sentry Tournament of Champions for the first time, despite still looking for his maiden title. The change in criteria for the Sentry event has opened the doors for all players who qualified for the Tour Championship, and Theegala will get it, too. Earlier he revealed that it would be cool to play in Hawaii.

Homa, with his second round 5-under 67, was 26-under par on his last four rounds at Silverado (65-65-65-67). He is looking to join Brendan Steele (2016-17) as a player to successfully defend a Fortinet Championship title.

Willett carded an 8-under 64, his lowest score on TOUR since a career-low 10-under 62 at the 2015 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. He shared the lead with Homa.

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