LONDON: The chance of playing nine holes with four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy is something most 18-year-olds would jump at.
But if Rayhan Thomas has his way, it will be something he does much more of in the future.
The Indian Dubai-born teenager — whose parents moved to Dubai in 1993 — joined McIlroy in a practice round ahead of last month’s Dubai Desert Classic, a just reward for being the leading amateur in the UAE.
“It was fantastic,” Thomas told Arab News.
“To watch the ball flight he has and watch him at work was just awesome.”
What did he and the current world No. 8 speak about?
“Just general things but it was mainly watching. I watched as much as I could to see what he does and pick his brain a little bit about the course and how he handles pressure.
“He’s a good guy and I’ve looked up to him for a long time. I had lunch with him eight years or so ago, when I was one of the local juniors lucky enough to meet him. It’s always special to meet up with him.”
Thomas has risen to prominence on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Tour and is 18th in the World Amateur Golf rankings. He became the first amateur to win a MENA Tour event in 2016 when he triumphed at the Dubai Creek Open aged 16 and then, in his title defense last September, he created more history.
Thomas reeled off nine birdies on the bounce en route to tying the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club course record of 61 — equaling the world record for consecutive birdies made in an Official World Golf Ranking event.
Having finished tied for 60th at last year’s Desert Classic, Thomas missed the cut at this year’s edition after finishing six over par and admitted: “I feel like I could have done much better, but it was a great experience and I learned a lot.”
While that did not go according to plan, he did more than enough to impress McIlroy, though, with the Northern Irishman praising Thomas’ prodigious ability and growing maturity.
“He’s come along so well,” McIlroy said of the supremely confident youngster who insisted that he has “no big weaknesses” in his game.
“I’ve known him since he was 13 or 14 and everyone was talking about him then. To see how he’s progressed: He’s a great player, does all the right things, practices hard and has a good attitude toward it,” McIlroy added.
The Middle East has long been known as a region with some great courses and host to some of the world’s best tournaments, but has never produced golfing talent to take on the world’s best. Thomas hopes to change all that and has already shown that the region can nurture very promising players.
The teen sensation is adamant that he will not be an exception and that the Middle East can create more golfing talent and not just be known as a playground for the golfing elite and wealthy expatriates.
“Can golfers from the Middle East succeed? I think they can have that opportunity,” said Thomas, who joined the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s youth development program aged eight. “We have great programs, people (teaching) and facilities and the weather is fantastic for it, so I don’t think we have any excuses. I think the programs and the way we run things here compared with other countries, we’re still developing and getting better — that’s the beauty of it.
“I think over the next 10 years or so, we will see a lot of junior people coming up from the programs and see some big players coming up from the Middle East.”
As for his own future, Thomas is taking it step by step.
“I won’t be turning professional any time soon, either,” said Thomas, whose next tournament is the Bonallack Trophy in Qatar, where he will be representing Asia-Pacific against Europe next month.
“I go to college, Oklahoma State University, in 2019 and I’ll only decide once I’m there and feel like I’m ready.
“Turning pro is my ultimate ambition and trying to achieve as much as I can. I don’t even know what that is yet.
“But I just want to be on the same trajectory that I am on, keep on improving and getting better and win major championships and be a great player.”
UAE teen leads the way for Middle East golf
UAE teen leads the way for Middle East golf
Liverpool without Salah beats Inter in Champions League. Barcelona and Bayern win
- Karl became the youngest player to score in three consecutive Champions League games
- Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt
After leaving Mohamed Salah in England, Liverpool got a much-needed boost with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Barcelona and Bayern Munich celebrated comeback wins and Chelsea lost.
With Salah out of the squad following his public criticism of the club last week, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up instead to score the 88th-minute penalty which earned a 1-0 win over one of the competition’s best-performing teams.
It was all the more valuable for coming after a run of one win in six games in all competitions for Arne Slot’s under-pressure team, which moved up to eighth.
Liverpool’s players thought they had taken the lead with Ibrahima Konate’s header in the 31st minute but, after a video review that lasted more than four minutes, it was ruled out for handball as Virgil van Dijk had earlier nodded the ball on to the arm of Hugo Ekitike.
Having taken away a goal from Liverpool, VAR came to the visitors’ aid when it spotted that Alessandro Bastoni had tugged Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the area, with the midfielder flailing to the ground. Szoboszlai converted the penalty.
Bayern’s new star shines
Bayern’s 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl produced an audacious bit of skill to continue his high-scoring start to life in the Champions League in a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon earlier Tuesday.
Karl scored his third goal in four career Champions League games, controlling a pass from Konrad Laimer in mid-air before volleying a shot from a tight angle over two onrushing defenders and past the goalkeeper.
It was part of a 12-minute, three-goal turnaround for Bayern after Joshua Kimmich’s own-goal handed Sporting the lead after João Simões put Bayern under pressure on the counter.
Serge Gnabry leveled for Bayern when he was left unmarked at a corner in the 65th, before Karl scored Bayern’s second in the 69th and defender Jonathan Tah made it 3-1 in the 77th.
Widely viewed as German soccer’s best young talent this season, Karl became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer in October on his first start in the competitions.
Late on, Alphonso Davies came off the bench for the Canadian left back’s first game since March after a serious knee injury.
Chelsea loses
Chelsea was beaten in the Champions League for the first time in nearly three months as Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere set up the equalizer and scored an 83rd-minute winner as Atalanta came from behind to win 2-1.
Chelsea, which went ahead through Joao Pedro, dropped out of the top eight automatic qualifying spots with its second loss.
It was a fourth win for Atalanta, which climbed to third and is the highest-placed Italian team.
Gianluca Scamacca made it 1-1 by heading home a cross from De Ketelaere, who then drove in a shot that Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.
Koundé drives Barcelona comeback
Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Marcus Rashford assisted in the first goal in the 50th and Lamine Yamal in the second in the 53rd.
The visitors had taken the lead with a goal by Ansgar Knauff in a 21st-minute breakaway at the renovated Camp Nou stadium, which still can’t hold full capacity.
Son watches Spurs win
Son Heung-min said a belated goodbye to Tottenham as his former club moved up to ninth after beating Slavia Prague 3-0 on an own goal and two penalties in a game overshadowed by a dispute over moving a rainbow flag showing support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Julián Alvarez scored for the ninth time in his last nine league-phase appearances to lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-2 come-from-behind win at PSV Eindhoven.
Marseille held on for a 3-2 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, whose players and fans twice celebrated what they thought were goals to level the score late on, only for both to be ruled out for narrow offsides on video review.
Folarin Balogun bundled the ball over the line from close range to give Monaco a 1-0 win over Galatasaray.
Olympiakos broke through a determined Kairat Almaty defense to take a 1-0 win in Kazakhstan and boost its hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages. Gelson Martins scored for the Greek side in the 73rd.
