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What's the story?
Indian teen golfing prodigy Rayhan Thomas played a 10-under 61 after firing nine birdies in a row to equal the world record. This incredible feat was achieved during the second round of the Dubai Creek Open. South Africa's MG Keyser was leading the pack with a 68 while England's Robert Harrhy was 3rd.
“Rayhan is a huge talent, obviously. He played beautifully, hit the ball very close and putted nicely. The way he was playing, this is the worse he could have shot,” said European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke to the official website of the MENA Golf Tour.
He added, “He was very calm and composed and read the greens very well, which I couldn’t! Rayhan’s game is trending in the right direction and I think he has a great future of ahead of him. I wish him the very best,”
In case you didn't know
The 17-year-old is the Dubai Creek Open defending champion and is gunning for back-to-back titles. His nine consecutive birdies have tied him with American Mark Calcavecchia, who achieved the feat at the 2009 RBC Canadian Open.
The heart of the matter
Rayhan stated that his target was to shoot six or seven under, but when he started holing putts, he knew that things were looking up. He was delighted with 10-under and he felt that he played very smart golf out there.
He added that he wouldn't rate it as his best round ever and stated that he just wanted to avoid making silly mistakes.
What's next?
Following this, the 17-year old Indian will be featuring in the President's Cup. Some of the added incentives that await MENA Tour members are a guaranteed spot on the PGA Tour’s 2018 DEAN & DELUCA Invitational (for the MENA Tour champion), multiple European Tour starts, including the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the Maybank Championship Malaysia, and the KLM Open, in addition to playing privileges on the Sunshine Tour, and exemptions into the Final Stage of the Sunshine Tour and Asian Tour Q-Schools.
Sportskeeda's Take
Without a doubt, young Rayhan Thomas is a rising talent and having earned praise from the likes of Darren Clarke will boost his confidence. Whether he will join the ranks of great Indian golfers like Anirban Lahiri, Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, Gaganjeet Bhullar and others remains to be seen.
