MALIBU, California – After winning a pair of tournaments last month, Sahith Theegala of the Pepperdine men's golf team earned the Ben Hogan Award's Player of the Month recognition for January.
 
Before returning to Pepperdine to begin the spring season, Theegala (Chino Hills, Calif./Diamond Bar HS) began January by winning the Australian Master of the Amateurs by four shots with a 10-under 278. The event regularly ranks among the top 20 amateur tournaments in the world.
 
Then, in the first college event of January, Theegala won the Waves' own Southwestern Invitational, firing a 12-under 204 to earn a one-shot victory. He became just the third two-time winner of the event. It was his fourth college victory, tying a Pepperdine record.
 
Theegala is ranked fifth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and 10th in the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings. He began the spring college season ranked #14 by Golfweek/Sagarin.
 
The Ben Hogan Award's Player of the Month honor is determined by a 12-person ballot involving members of the Hogan Trophy Foundation and Friends of Golf along with social media voting. Pepperdine fans helped Theegala to win all three social media votes via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
 
The Ben Hogan Award is given each May to the top men's college golfer, which includes all collegiate and amateur events over the past 12 months.
 
Theegala and the Waves won their first two team tournaments of the spring season and go for their third in a row at the upcoming Prestige in La Quinta, Calif., from February 17-19.