Rayhan Thomas won the MENA tour as an amateur, awarding him a spot in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic where he placed 60th in a field of 128 which included some of golfs biggest names like Tiger Woods and Henrik Stenson. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:0017-year-old golf prodigy Ryan Thomas was only 8 years old when his father bought him his
00:09first set of clubs.
00:10My dad used to play golf when he came here and then I started playing with him and he
00:16took me to a golf house one day which used to be on Sheikh Zayed Road and I just enjoyed
00:20hitting the ball off the mat into the net and from then on he bought me my first kids
00:26clubs and just grew from there.
00:28Now he's turning heads on the Lynx with his outstanding performances in the MENA region.
00:32My first year was 2013 when I was 13 years old, it was my first year and it was sort
00:38of more of a learning curve for me because I didn't do particularly well but it just
00:42showed where I was compared to some really good players on that tour and gave me a base
00:48to get better and then 2014 I played I think just two events, didn't play too much on the
00:54MENA tour just because I needed to get my game in the right shape and 2015 onwards
00:58played a lot, finished second in the MENA tour Amateur Drift Merit.
01:02Most recently he led the MENA tour as an amateur awarding him a spot in the Omega Dubai Desert
01:06Classic where he placed 60th in a field of 128.
01:09Yeah I mean some of the names that were below me unfortunately were just huge names and
01:15it felt really good to know I was around them.
01:18His schedule is looking to fill up quite fast in 2017 with various invites to amateur events
01:23in the United States and his commitment to the MENA tour.
01:26I'm getting a lot of invites into the U.S. amateur events and then I play in a MENA tour
01:31event in Morocco, then I have a junior invitational event in South Carolina and then the summer
01:38will probably be some amateur, big amateur tournaments in the U.S.
01:41Ryan's most immediate goal is to play in the Hero India Open this March and as the highest
01:45ranked Indian amateur he believes his chances are good.
01:48If I get that, that will be huge, I think that's at the DLF Golf Club from the 9th to
01:51the 12th of March so getting that would be my 4th event and a lot of good experience
01:57from playing those many European tour events going forward, it will be good to be in my
02:01country again.
02:02Thomas isn't planning to turn pro immediately after high school, he wants to attend college
02:06where he believes he can hone his game even further against the top college players in
02:10the world.
02:11I graduate in 2019 and depending on how good my game is, if my game is good enough to compete
02:15at that high level consistently I may turn pro but if not I may go to college which seems
02:21like the option I'll be taking.
02:23Ryan Thomas is committed to becoming the best golfer he can be and views every event he
02:27plays in as a way to grow his skills.
02:30There's always a little pressure you put on yourself to try and make the cut when there's
02:33expectations that I just put on myself to do but if I don't make the cut, if I make
02:37the cut, it doesn't matter to me as long as I, like I said, if I gain from the experience
02:42and I just enjoy it which I always do.
02:44This positive attitude and dedication to the sport he loves could well see Ryan Thomas
02:48become a household name in the future.
02:50Logan Fish for Golf News.