Dubai-born golfer Rayhan Thomas eyes the PGA Tour University rankings

Dubai: It was a pleasure to catch up with Rayhan Thomas, a former Dubai resident and one of the brightest talents on the golf course, to speak about his time at Oklahoma State University on their golf team.

Rayhan, who was born to Indian parents in Dubai, dominated the local UAE amateur golf events during his time here and became the first amateur winner on the Mena Tour when he clinched the 2016 Dubai Creek Open title at the age of 16. He went on to make the cut in the 2017 Dubai Desert Classic and later that year, he equalled a world record with nine consecutive birdies at an official OWGR sanctioned event, the Mena Tour’s Dubai Creek Open at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. He is currently Ranked 286th in the R&A’s World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Rickie Fowler, Pablo Martin, Matt Wolff, Viktor Hovland, Hunter Mahan, Bo Van Pelt, Scott Verplank and Peter Uihlein are some of the outstanding alumni from the OSU.

QUESTION: Rayhan, it has been a while since we connected with you, how are you doing?

RAYHAN THOMAS: I am 22 years old now and it is going great in the United States. We play a lot of tournaments in school and the city of Stillwater, where we are based, is very homely. The coaches and my teammates are great fun to be around and I am having a blast.

I am enjoying the States, it suits my lifestyle and, in my opinion, is the place to be to play golf. I am on the Oklahoma State University golf team (OSU) and we are currently ranked Number 2 in the country and we have just won the NIT Invitational tournament in Tucson, Arizona, by 21 shots beating the number one ranked team and many other top ranked teams on the way.

Where have you been playing your golf?

We have played all over the US. This season I have played at Pebble Beach, Hawaii, East Lake and Cabo (Mexico) to name a few.

How long have you got left at University?

I am currently in my Junior Year, which is my third year, and I have another year to go with an option of one more.

What are your golf career plans?

My plan for this 2022 year is to compete at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the end of May and then play some more tournaments in the US for the summer.

In the long term, my plan is to make the PGA Tour University Rankings and get some level of status on the Korn Ferry Tour, that will hopefully transition to the PGA Tour.

Rayhan, congratulations on your results and development and we will continue to follow your progress in the US.