Tour winner’s bizarre request — a fake 8-iron?! — is already paying off

Kenton Oates has received some oddball equipment requests over the years during his time as a Ping Tour rep. Wild grip builds. Unique iron grinds. Two drivers. Oates has seen it all. Or so he thought until staffer Sahith Theegala texted him with an ask that almost didn’t seem real.

After hitting two shots into the water on the par-3 14th hole during the FedEx St. Jude Championship with a Ping Blueprint S 7-iron, Theegala wanted to know if Ping could make him a 7-iron that didn’t have a 7 stamped on the sole. He was officially done looking at the number and needed to see something different in the bag.

“[Sahith] actually mentioned something pre-tournament about the [7-iron] being the worst club in his bag,” Oates told GOLF.com. “It was a curious comment. There’s no reason for the 7-iron to be worse than the others. Then he hit two in the water with 7-iron on 14 in Memphis.

sahith theegala ping

“He texts me Sunday night after Memphis and says, ‘This is a ridiculous request, but I need a 7-iron that doesn’t have a 7 stamped on it.’ I had to think about it for a second and then remembered the [Viktor Hovland] irons with the grinds. When we grind on the sole, we end up having to screenprint the numbers on there.”

To accommodate Theegala’s request, Ping’s Tour department filled in the 7 stamped on the sole with metal, ground off a portion and then screenprinted an 8 on top. The painless process made it possible for Ping to overnight the club to Theegala at the BMW Championship for immediate testing.

“We worked on the club Tuesday of the BMW Championship and he’s been using it ever since,” Oates said. “He calls it the 8-Plus. It just shows you that pros are much closer to us than you might think. Even they have idiosyncrasies that don’t always make sense.”

While Theegala’s 8-Plus is still a bonafide 7-iron, the number change on the sole has worked wonders for his confidence. During the Tour Championship, Theegala found himself in the mix during the final round and asked his caddie, Carl Smith, if he should “hit the 8-Plus” during several important situations. There’s no chance he’s uttering the word “7-iron.”

Related articles

BREAKING: Actresses REFUSE to Act for Tyler Perry After His Diddy Freak-offs LEAK

In Hollywood, the journey to landing roles is notoriously challenging, especially for Black women. This reality was starkly illuminated in a recent conversation surrounding Tyler Perry, a…

Lil Wayne has just exposed something shocking about Diddy, and it’s way bigger than we thought.

Lil Wayne has just exposed something shocking about Diddy, and it’s way bigger than we thought. Lil Waynє’s rєcєnt rєvєlations about Diddy havє causєd wavєs across thє…

A major champ’s 4 keys for the ideal setup in greenside bunkers

After playing in a Member-Guest tournament this past weekend, it’s clear my golf game’s not nearly where it should be — especially when it comes to seeing…

2024 Shriners Children’s Open odds: Swedish pro on hot streak is our long shot

This week’s PGA Tour tournament is the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open, a long-running event held in Las Vegas, and we’re picking a winless Swedish pro whose game is…

Rules Guy: My ball is lodged against a bunker rake. What now?

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the…

Fred Couples explains his key for generating effortless power

Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer. There are few players in the game with a smoother swing than Fred Couples. It…