When Sahith Theegala said that match play is a ‘funny funny thing’, no one batted an eye. “There’s always some Mongolians and things go the ways that you don’t think it would go,” the onetime PGA Tour winner went on to explain. Pardon, Mongolian? What was that?

There were no Mongolians in the team. The media interaction went on as post-match press conferences go. And Theegala & Co. were in quite the mood. The men in red, white, and blue just subjected the international side to a 5-0 Four-ball humiliation.

Theegala and his partner, Collin Morikawa, had a nervy 1-up victory over Adam Scott & Min Woo Lee. One of those three matches that went to the last hole. Yet, nothing explained the ‘Mongolian’ that came out of the Theegala’s mouth. 

A clarification was sought from Shane Ryan of Golf Digest. “I realize I didn’t say the full phrase. Not race intended or country intended, but Mongolian reversal. I don’t even know how it originated,” Theegala replied.

It was from Fred Couples, Sahith Theegala went on to explain, that he heard the term first. In match play, it refers to a comeback. When the team fights back against all odds and turns the table in their favor. 

Exactly what Morikawa and Theegala did at the Royal Montreal Golf Club. The duo was 1-down till the 11th. The birdies on the 12th and 14th from Morikawa gave them an edge. Theegala held on to it on the 18th green with a clutch birdie. Hence, ‘Mongolian [reversal]’.

Not his fault that the term is far less common than he thought. But in the volatile social media world, a wrong interpretation can ruin a career. Theegala quipped, “Thank you for asking to clarify that. Mongolian reversal, yes. Don’t cancel me, please.” Smart move from the Pepperdine alum. But what about the origin of the term? What does history, or rather, golf lore, say?

‘Mongolian reversal’ isn’t as ancient as the name suggests

Sahith Theegala, the first Indian-American to tee up at the Presidents Cup, cited Fred Couples. The 15-time PGA Tour winner does use it occasionally. And, an article from Michael Bamberger on Golf vocabulary also cites Couples as the proponent of this term. We don’t know if the history of the term is nearly as ancient as the history of golf. Best guess is it’s not. But it has certainly spread beyond Couples.

Actually, someone should’ve asked Kevin Kisner too. The assistant captain of the team had used it back in 2021. Kisner was talking about a match with his good friend and playing partner, Charley Hoffman. The four-time PGA Tour winner bogeyed the last hole, whereas Hoffman birdied the last four holes to pip Kisner by one stroke. 

Kisner’s exact words as quoted by Jason Sobel at Action Network:  “We’ve had some Mongolian reversals down the last hole. Birdies or bogeys on the last hole.” Is it California slang? Maybe not. Theegala and Couples were both born in California. But not Kevin Kisner.

So, where did it originate? Certainly not from Genghis Khan’s mouth. The Mongolian emperor died in 1227. While the earliest known history of Golf is debatable, even by liberal estimates it doesn’t date back to the early 13th century. The first documented mention of the term ‘Golf’ is found in the edict of King James II from March 6, 1457. So, there is still a slight chance that Fred Couples might be the fountainhead. Or, at least the one who popularized it among Tour pros.