Rayhan Thomas lying T22 in #AAC2017

27 October, 2017: Rayhan Thomas produced a dramatic even par 71 to climb up to T22 at the end of the second round of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. Sunit Chowrasia and Kshitij Kaul missed the cut with scores of 7 & 11 over respectively. Yuvraj Sandhu and Yashas Chandra survived by living on the edge of the knife at +6 while Priyanshu Singh was T39 at four over 146.

It was a sensational effort at the start by Rayhan, who fired four birdies, taking just 31 strokes after starting at the tenth. But Rayhan courted deep trouble soon after he made the turn. A triple bogey at the par-5 second hole threatened to derail his campaign.

Rayhan played with discipline from there, conceding just one more bogey on the way to a 71. Priyanshu Singh made just a lone birdie against two bogeys in his 72.

Australia’s Min Woo Lee – younger brother of LPGA star Minjee Lee – holed a 60-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole of Royal Wellington Golf Club to take a one-stroke lead over China’s Lin Yuxin after the second round of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. Lin, 17, had earlier eagled his last hole, the ninth, to card a four-under-par 67 and post the clubhouse lead, but the 19-year-old Lee leapfrogged him late to record a 68 and move to sevenunder.

First-round leader Australian Shae Wools-Cobb (74) – Lee’s roommate for the week – is at fiveunder, two shots ahead of New Zealanders Nick Voke (72) and Kerry Mountcastle (70), China’s Andy Zhang (70), Japan’s Sean Maruyama (72) and Lloyd Jefferson Go (72) of the Philippines.

At the event’s halfway mark, the cut fell at six-over-par, with 62 players advancing to the weekend. The youthful Lee is the longest hitter on the six-strong Australian team, but it was his putter that caught fire with birdies on 16 and 17 before his dramatic closing shot put him in the lead at the ninth AAC, which rewards the champion with spots in the 2018 Masters Tournament and The 147th Open at Carnoustie next summer.

“It has been a while since I’ve holed a putt that long. It just happened at the right time,” said Lee, who won last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur and was runner-up in this year’s Australian Amateur. “I was feeling pretty low on the back nine and not pumped up, then I got a kick-on from Ritchie [Smith],” said Lee of his coach handling caddie duties this week.

Lin, who teed off on hole 10 in the morning, had posted the early fireworks after closing with an eagle on the 442-yard, par-four ninth. The strongly built left-hander boomed a 360-yard drive before holing out from the right rough with an 82-yard chip.

“It was a really good way to finish, with an eagle, and I actually saw the ball drop. I was actually pretty calm because last week I had an albatross and an eagle in Macau,” said Lin, who has verbally committed to play golf collegiately in the United States at the University of Southern California, beginning in 2019. “I’m not sure why I keep holing those shots from the fairway or the rough, but it’s pretty good.”

Lin, who only turned 17 on October 12, is playing in his second AAC after a tie for 21st in Korea last year.

“I’m pretty confident. I’m hitting it pretty well and putting well, and my chipping is also pretty good, so I’m looking forward to the last two rounds,” said Lin who is based in Beijing. Wools-Cobb will join Lee and Lin in the final group.

Hong Kong’s Wong Shuai-ming and China’s Yuan Yechun both shot 66 to share ninth place at two-under with Japan’s Keita Nakajima (68), Hsieh Ting-wei (70) of Chinese Taipei and Australians Dylan Perry (69) and James Anstiss (70). Australians Travis Smyth and Harrison Endycott, the tournament’s top two ranked players, share 15th place at one-under, just six shots off the lead.

The third round will begin Saturday at 8:05 a.m. off the first and 10th tees at Royal Wellington. Spectators are encouraged to watch the drama unfold and entry is free of charge.