Rayhan Thomas earns Korn Ferry status as Kanaya picks up PGA Tour card

Dubai-based Indian Rayhan Thomas shot a final round 2-under 68 to finish tied 26th in the Final Stage of the PGA Tour’s Qualifying School presented by Korn Ferry at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday to earn status on the feeder tour in 2025 and is guaranteed 12 starts before being subject to a reshuffle.

Thomas finished with a 1 over par four-day aggregate pf 281 (70-72-71-68) at the Dye’s Valley Course, sharing 26th place with nine others behind event winner Lanto Griffin of the US, who totalled 9 under 271 with fellow-American Hayden Buckley second on 6 under 274 and Japan’s Takumi Kanaya third at 5 under 275.

Speaking about the process and its significance after his final round, Thomas, 25, said, “This means a lot. For one, it means I can stay in the States and just to know where I’m going to be playing is huge.”

Thomas, who won the Coimbatore Open on his domestic Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) debut earlier in the year also just missed out on full playing rights on the DP World (European) Tour at the qualifying school in Spain last month. He did however, to enough to earn his berth at the subsidiary Challenge Tour, which means he now has playing rights on three continents.

“Obviously you think about the top five (final placings) for the PGA Tour cards but step one I was thinking is the biggest one, to get starts, anywhere really and to have those starts is awesome. The first two days, it was extremely windy and it was all about managing expectations and when the wind died down,” he said.

“Today was like the be all and end all (after the second qualifying stage in Savannah, Georgia, and the first three days at Dye’s Valley). Every putt felt like it meant a bit more but I tried to look at it as the same, like every putt matters.”

The Kerala-born Thomas, who played collegiate golf with the renowned Oklahoma State University team, now plans to base himself at Stillwater in the same state and said the presence of more than a few OSU teammates at Final Qualifying had been a positive. “There were about five guys from Oklahoma State and stayed with one of them. My assistant coach from last year was on the bag this week.

“It was really special to have him here and a lot of fun. He walked with me for most of my last year in school and I always have a good time with him on and off the course so it meant a lot to me for him to be here.”

Meanwhile, further up the order, Kanaya fought to a solo third finish with a final round of 1 under 69 at TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley as he capped a great season including earning number one status on the Japanese tour.

Kanaya will become one of five Japanese players to hold a PGA Tour card for next year, joining 10-time winner Hideki Matsuyama, Ryo Hisatsune, Kaito Onishi and Rikuya Hoshino.

Like Kanaya, Onishi and Hoshino will make their maiden full seasons on the world’s elite circuit after gaining playing rights through the Korn Ferry Tour Top-30 and DP World Tour Top-10 respectively, the PGA Tour said.

“I’m going to call my parents about my finish. I’ve had some tough moments and difficulties but I’ve been able to get through with the support of so many people,” said the seven-time Japan Golf Tour winner.

Qualifying School is one of the toughest tests in golf and Kanaya showed courage and resilience to achieve his American dream. It has been a remarkable journey for the former world amateur no. 1 as he was probably thinking of heading home in the second stage last month after he opened his first seven holes in 7-over. He fought back to finish T4 and advance into the Final Stage, and subsequently won the season-ending tournament in Japan and the money list title.

“Winning the money list gave me the confidence and I think if I work hard, I will have more chances to compete,” said Kanaya, who was voted the Japan Tour’s Most Valuable Player. “I want to prepare well now and do my best in 2025.

“The second stage was really tough for four days but we took it one step at a time. I think I’ve done well up to now and I’m really happy that it’s paid off like this. It wasn’t a great start but I believed if I concentrated and worked hard, no matter where I was, I would get the results.”

With Matsuyama, who won twice on the PGA Tour in 2024, spearheading the game in Japan and inspiring a new generation of players to shoot for the stars, Kanaya believes the strong contingent of players from Japan competing on the PGA Tour next year will be a boon for the game at home.

“Hideki has been so successful in the US for a long time and is already one of the best players in the world. I think many Japanese players will be taking on the challenge in the future and I would like to do my best to be like Hideki,” he said

Kensei Hirata finished T8 with a brilliant 64 to agonizingly miss out a the top-5 finish and ties but earned Korn Ferry Tour status for 2025 alongside Korea’s S.Y. Noh (67) while Sangmoon Bae, a two-time PGA Tour winner, finished T43 to also secure his Korn Ferry Tour playing rights.