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By Joy Chakravarty
Freshly-minted Hero World Challenge champion Viktor Hovland has given a glowing appraisal of Dubai-based amateur Rayhan Thomas.
The 24-year-old Hovland is an Oklahoma State University alumnus and remains a regular at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, the home base of the OSU Cowboys, even two years after turning pro. The Norwegian, who climbed to world No.7 following his win in the Bahamas, also has his residence there.
Thomas, who became the first amateur to win on the MENA Tour (2016 Dubai Creek Open) and was tied second at the 2018 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, joined OSU in 2019. But he struggled with his swing for more than a year and spent most of his time in the driving range and sidelines watching his teammates continue to add to the legacy of such stars as Hovland and Matthew Wolff.
In his quest to get back his swing, the 21-year-old decided not to come home to Dubai in the summer of 2021, playing tournaments and putting in the reps in the US. He played several rounds with Hovland over the period, feeding on the experience of the three-time PGA Tour champion, and forging a strong bond with the Norwegian.
The move is now paying dividends as Thomas has had several encouraging outings in the past couple of months. He played a key role in OSU finishing second at the season-ending East Lake Cup and was second in his last individual event – the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate. Having dropped down close to 2,000th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, his recent form has helped him climb to No. 951.
Thomas believes his best in college golf is yet to come, and from what he has seen, Hovland has complete faith in the Indian.
Photo by Joy Chakravarty.
“I think he is having a good year, and I think he has a really good future,” said Hovland speaking exclusively to Golf Digest Middle East during the Hero World Challenge in Bahamas.
“He is such a fun guy to be around and he has got a very good head on his shoulders. He is still very young, but speaks very eloquently and thinks about everything that he does. He goes about his business with purpose, and he is pretty smart.
“You know, he struggled a little bit early in his first year in college, but it was really nice to see him kind of get into a rhythm and start playing well at the end of this year.
“I think he is pretty motivated too. He keeps working hard and I see no reason why he should not have a great year.”
Having spent his years with coach Alan Bratton and his team at one of the most successful college golf programmes, Hovland says he completely understands what Thomas has gone through in the first couple of years.
“He is not the only player at Oklahoma State to have struggled. Karsten Creek is a tough place. It is one of the most prestigious golf programmes in the State. There are a lot of things that put pressure on you. When you are part of such a team, you just want to play well so badly. And there are times when it just doesn’t work out. We have had a lot of success, but unfortunately, we also have a lot of experience of players struggling as well,” explained Hovland.
“But then again, our struggles help us kind of know more about ourselves. It’s all about the team telling him the right things and making him comfortable, making him relaxed. He is very well-liked by Coach Bratton and he is working on good things, and eventually, his game is gonna turn around.”
Thomas had earlier told Golf Digest Middle East that Hovland had become a mentor for him and he seeks a lot of advice from the PGA Tour star.
“Yeah…that’s one thing I like about him. He keeps asking questions. We speak a lot, but it’s not like just golf stuff. Swing advice is probably not the best advice I can give, but it’s things like asking about how life on tour is, how do you think mentally in a certain situation. The small things. He seems like he listens and asks more questions. And that’s good,” said Hovland.
Thomas is back in Duba for his winter break.
