Golf: Rayhan Thomas moves up to T-12 in Korn Ferry Tour event

Franklin (USA), Sep 13 (IANS) After being interrupted by the weather in the first round, Rayhan Thomas came back to complete the first round in 5-under 65 at the Simmons Bank Open on the Korn Ferry Tour. Thomas then followed it with a second round of 4-under 66 to move up to T-12 on the leaderboard with a total score of nine under par at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.

Thomas fired six birdies and one bogey for his first round. The second round included five birdies and one bogey.

Thomas had made three birdies in his first round before play was suspended due to weather conditions. The first round saw Thomas make birdies on the first, third, fourth, ninth, 12th, and 15th holes. His sole bogey of the round was on the 18th hole.

Thomas began his second round on the back nine and made birdies on the 10th, 12th, 13th, 16th, and 17th holes with one bogey on the 15th before making par on all the holes in the front nine.

The Simmons Bank Championship is the first of the events in the Korn Ferry Finals series. The field dwindled as the Finals progressed. A total of 156 players are eligible for this week’s Simmons Bank Championship, while only 144 will make it to next week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship.

The third event (Compliance Solutions Championship) will have a 120-man field, while the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship will have 75 players and will not feature a 36-hole cut.

Sudarshan Yellamaraju carded two rounds of 2-over 72 to have a total score of four over par and missed the cut this week. The Indo-Canadian will likely fall slightly from his 13th spot, but with the top 20 players set to receive a PGA Tour card, Yellamaraju is likely to receive one of them. He, however, has a chance to improve his position in the remaining events.

After making the cut this week, Thomas is in a position to break into the top 100 of the tour rankings. He will, however, likely get to play the next two events and have a chance to retain his card.

Austin Hitt is the sole leader at the halfway mark this week after following a strong first round of 4-under 66 with a second round of 9-under 61. Hitt made 10 birdies and one bogey in his second round and has a total score of 13 under par.

First-round leader Nelson Ledesma and Stuart Macdonald are tied for second place with a 36-hole score of 12 under par.

--IANS

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