Dubai-born Rayhan Thomas made significant strides up the leaderboard on day two of the Coimbatore Open after the 24-year-old carded a bogey-free five under par 67.
Thomas, who turned professional earlier this year after graduating from the University of Oklahoma, carded five birdies en roue to his blemish-free round to climb into a share of third on seven under par.
“I had a good par save on my fifth hole, the 14th – I was out of position and manged to hole a 30-footer, which was good,” said Thomas, who is making his debut on the PGA Tour of India.
“The rest of the day was pretty clean, no bogeys and five birdies. It was just pretty simple golf which is always nice. I’m excited to get going again, and hopefully I’ll give myself a chance to win on Saturday.”
Thomas sits three shots off 36-hole leader Akshay Sharma, who built a two-shot lead with a flawless seven-under 65 in round two at Coimbatore Golf Club.
Sharma got off to quick start with a birdie chip-in on the second, before setting up a tap-in birdie on the fourth after he went pin hunting on the par-3. The two-time PGATI winner picked up three more shots on the front nine, including an impressive eagle on the ninth, to make the turn at five under par.
The 33-year-old added two more birdies to his scorecard coming home to ensure he ended the day top of the pile, two shots clear of Manu Gandas.
“I took full advantage on the front-nine today as the conditions were calm while I was playing that stretch,” said Sharma
“The wind picked up later and therefore there were fewer scoring opportunities for me on the back-nine.
“Importantly, I made all fairways today except one and hit 14 greens in regulation. It’s always quite satisfying to play a bogey-free round. I did well to not make any mistakes today. I enjoy playing at Coimbatore as I’ve done well here in the past. That always helps the confidence.”
Thomas gets his third round underway at 9:40am local time.
