Pepperdine university

American Akshay Bhatia:  Sahith Theegala cemented his stature as one of golf’s rising stars by claiming his maiden PGA TOUR triumph at the Fortinet Championship on Sunday and hopes his breakthrough will inspire young Indian athletes to shoot for the stars.

The 25-year-old Theegala, who is of Indian heritage, fired a final round of 4-under 68 at Silverado Resort in Napa, California to win by two strokes over Korea’s S.H. Kim as he joined fellow Indian-American Akshay Bhatia in the winner’s club following the latter’s triumph at the Barracuda Championship in July.

“It means a lot to me because a lot of my family's still back in India,” said Theegala, who posted 12 top-10 finishes before his career-first victory on the world’s elite circuit.