Screen grab of India’s Rayhan Thomas from his post-event press conference at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday. Image courtesy PGA Tour.
By Rahul Banerji
India’s Rayhan Thomas shot a closing 2 under par 68 to finish tied 26th in the Final Stage of the PGA Tour’s Qualifying School presented by Korn Ferry at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday.
The result was good enough to earn the Dubai-based golfer status on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2025 where he is guaranteed 12 starts before being subject to a reshuffle, the PGA Tour said.
Thomas (70-72-71-68) aggregated 1 over par 281 over the four days on the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass to share 26th place with nine others behind event winner Lanto Griffin of the US.
Griffen finished on 9 under 271 with fellow American Hayden Buckley second on 6 under 274 and Japan’s Takumi Kanaya third at 5 under 275.
Thomas, 25, said later, “This means a lot. For one, it means I can stay in the States and just to know where I’m going to be playing is huge.”
“Obviously you think about the top five (final placings) for the PGA Tour cards but step one is the biggest, to get starts, anywhere really and to have that is awesome.
“The first two days, it was extremely windy and it was all about managing expectations and when the wind died down, today was like the be-all and end-all.
“Every putt felt like it meant a bit more but I tried to look at it as the same, like every putt matters.
Fresh start
Thomas, who played collegiate golf in the US with Oklahoma State University, now plans to base himself at Stillwater, also in the same state.
The presence of more than a few OSU teammates at Final Qualifying had been a positive, he noted. “There were about five guys from Oklahoma State and stayed with one of them. My assistant coach from last year was on the bag this week.
“It was special to have him here. He walked with me for most of my last year in school and I always have a good time with him on and off the course so it meant a lot to me for him to be here.”
Thomas, who won on his domestic Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) debut this year, narrowly missed earning playing rights on the DP World (European) Tour at the qualifying school in Spain last month.
However, he did enough to earn starts at the subsidiary Challenge Tour, which means he now has playing rights on three continents.
Also earning their way onto the two US-based tours from Asia were Japan Tour Order of Merit topper Takumi Kanaya and fellow Japanese golfer Kensei Hirata, who just missed out on a top-five finish and a PGA Tour card.
Asian presence
They will be joined by Koreans S.Y. Noh and Sangmoon Bae, a two-time PGA Tour winner, both of whom secured Korn Ferry Tour playing rights.
Kanaya finished solo third with a final round of 1 under 69 at Dye’s Valley, capping a great season that included taking top spot on the Japanese tour.
He will be one of five Japanese players to hold a PGA Tour card for next year, joining 10-time winner Hideki Matsuyama, Ryo Hisatsune, Kaito Onishi and Rikuya Hoshino.
Like Kanaya, Onishi and Hoshino will make their maiden full seasons having gained playing rights through the KFT top-30 and DPWT top-10 respectively
“I’m going to call my parents about my finish. I’ve had some tough moments and difficulties but I’ve been able to get through with the support of so many people,” said the seven-time Japan Golf Tour money list winner and former world amateur number one.
“Winning the money list gave me the confidence and I think if I work hard, I will have more chances to compete,” said Kanaya, voted the Japan Tour’s Most Valuable Player. “I want to prepare well now and do my best in 2025.
“The second stage was really tough for four days but we took it one step at a time. I think I’ve done well up to now and I’m really happy that it’s paid off like this. It wasn’t a great start but I believed if I concentrated and worked hard, no matter where I was, I would get the results.”
Also read: Rayhan Thomas wins Coimbatore Open on his PGTI debut
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