Explaining Sahith Theegala’s hilarious ‘Mongolians’ trip-up

MONTREAL — As soon as the words left Sahith Theegala’s mouth, his teammates knew he’d made a mistake.

“Match play is a funny, funny thing,” Theegala said Thursday at the Presidents Cup, minutes after winning his first match as a member of the U.S. team. “There’s always some Mongolians … and things go the ways that you don’t think it would go.”

Theegala finished his answer, but his teammates would never hear it. By the time he was finished speaking, Xander Schauffele, Keegan Bradley and Scottie Scheffler were laughing.

The reason for the laughter was clear. Theegala’s free-flowing response had included a nonsequitur that sounded like a microaggression. What did he mean by Mongolians?

Thankfully, it took only a few more questions until Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan sought further explanation.

“Sahith,” he asked. “Can you tell us what Mongolians are?”

Almost immediately, the 26-year-old pro broke out in a grin.

“I heard them laughing when I said that,” he said, looking at his (now-giggling) teammates. “I realize I didn’t say the full phrase. Not race intended or country intended, but it’s a Mongolian reversal. I don’t even know how it originated.”

Ah yes — the Mongolian Reversal — a term first coined in reference to the collapse of the Mongolian empire in the 14th Century. In history, the term refers to the dramatic expansion of the Mongolian empire throughout the continent of Asia in the 13th and early 14th centuries before its sudden downfall in the years following the death of Genghis Khan. In golf, though, it refers to the match play equivalent — when one feels they have the hole conquered, only for their opponent to turn the tables.

“The first time I heard it was actually Fred Couples, a long time ago when I was watching TV,” Theegala said. “I guess it’s just when your opponents are in a better place than you on the hole and you do something cool like make a long putt. It looks like your opponents were going to win the hole when you hit the approach shots in, but you make the long putt and they miss the short putt, and all of a sudden looking like you’re losing the hole to winning the hole.”

The result: not nearly what it seemed during Thursday evening’s post-Presidents Cup press conference — and a quick apology from the man at the center of it.

“Thank you for asking to clarify that,” Theegala said with a relieved smile. “Mongolian reversal, yes.”

And then a laugh.

“Don’t cancel me, please.”

James Colgan

Golf.com Editor

James Colgan is a news and features editor at GOLF, writing stories for the website and magazine. He manages the Hot Mic, GOLF’s media vertical, and utilizes his on-camera experience across the brand’s platforms. Prior to joining GOLF, James graduated from Syracuse University, during which time he was a caddie scholarship recipient (and astute looper) on Long Island, where he is from. He can be reached at james.colgan@golf.com.