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17-year-old amateur rattles off record-tying nine consecutive birdies, shoots 61

By T.J. Auclair
Published on
17-year-old amateur rattles off record-tying nine consecutive birdies, shoots 61

India's Rayhan Thomas, a 17-year-old amateur golfer, tied a record in an Official World Golf Ranking event on Tuesday by recording nine consecutive birdies in Dubai on his way to a 10-under 61.

The defending champion in the Dubai Creek Open at his home course Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, Thomas had his nine-straight birdies on holes 2-10 en route to the 61.

Thomas played the front side in 8-under 27.

In the afternoon, he shot a 3-under 68 and will enter Wednesday's final round two back of leader MG Keyser.

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Thomas, ranked 50th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, played alongside 2016 European Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke on Tuesday.

"Rayhan is a huge talent, obviously," Clarke said, according to Golf Channel. "The way he was playing, this is the worst he could have shot... "Rayhan's game is trending in the right direction and I think he has a great future ahead of him."

According to GolfChannel.com, the nine straight birdies made by Thomas equals the record of Mark Calcavecchia from the 2009 Canadian Open. Austria's Bernd Wiesberger birdied nine in a row earlier this year in Malaysia, but his run isn't officially recognized since the round was played with preferred lies.