Rayhan Thomas is confident he can make the matchplay phase of the 122^nd British Amateur providing he doesn’t do “anything silly” in his final qualifying round at famed Royal St George’s on Tuesday. Are you listening, Dear Putter?

Two late birdies helped the 17-year-old Dubai-born Indian salvage a one-under 71 Monday from his opening round at Prince’s GG, the Sandwich, Kent coast club co-hosting the 36-hole stokeplay qualifying phase of ‘The Amateur Championship”.

It left Thomas flirting with the cut line in a 25-way share of 58^th place midway through the first round. Only the top 64 players from 288 starters advance to the matchplay knockout rounds which run from Wednesday to Saturday at St George’s.

Thomas will want his putter working a little better at St George’s when he tees it up at the Open Championship venue at 5.15pm UAE time (2.15pm UK time) Tuesday. He mixed three birdies with two, three-putt bogeys at Prince’s but at least got it into the red for the day courtesy of back-to-back gains on the 16^th and 17^th.

“I played solid today, hit a lot of greens and a lot of fairways and the putting pace was good but I just didn’t trust a lot of the lines [on the greens], ” Thomas told Golf Digest Middle East.

RELATED: Rayhan Thomas puts exams on ice to tee it up in the 122nd Open

“I think to make the cut I just need to make sure I play steady, don’t do anything silly and just keep playing the way I’m playing because I’m doing good enough so far.

“I’ve just got to make sure not to make any big numbers. I think there are about 250 [288] players this week and 64 make it into the matchplay so I’ve got to make sure every shot counts, even the little ones because one stroke here and there can move you up or down about 40 spots.

“So yeah, just stay patient, stay calm and just play. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Thomas described Prince’s as “scoreable” given a relative lack of wind and the first round scoring illustrated just that; only five of the 31 leading players were playing St George’s. It means the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club member will have to conquer something special Tuesday to make the cut.

Iceland’s Gisli Sveinbergsson signed for eight birdies, six of them on the front nine, in a sizzling opening -8 64 to lead by one overnight from Italian Alberto Castagnara was also playing at Prince’s. Welshman Tim Harry and South African Jovan Rebula shared third place after six under 66s.

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Rayhan Thomas is to put his important end-of-school-year exams on ice to tee it up in the 122nd British Amateur Championship.

The 17-year-old had originally planned to play ‘The Amateur’ at Royal St. George’s GC and Prince’s GC from June 19 before learning the historic event clashed with his 10th grade exams. But the overtures of the Indian Golf Union and the understanding of his online school tutors means the Dubai-based teen is now definitely headed for the famous stretch of golfing coastline in Sandwich, Kent.

“The Indian Golf Union want to take me and three other players to the British Amateur so we spoke to the school and I can do the exams after I get back. I’m really looing forward to playing at Royal St. George’s,” Thomas told GolfDigestMe.com of the famed Open Championship venue.

The Amateur was first contested in 1885 at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) where 44 players played a series of matches before A F Macfie overcame Royal & Ancient clubmate Horace Hutchinson 7&6 in the final. Nowdays it is one of the world’s most prestigious amateur championships involving 288 players over six days of mixed stroke and matchplay.

Thomas’ goal is to survive the opening 36-holes of strokeplay qualifying and then take it “round-by-round” in the matchplay which is contested by the leading 64 players.

“Links golf is my favourite type of golf just because you have to hit so many different types of shots instead of the high ball. While it’s not the standard golf played on the European Tour it definitely helps you develop your game and become a more all round player,” the dual Dubai Creek/Emirates GC member said.

After The Amateur and his exams are done, Thomas’ schedule will ramp up as he counts down to representing the International team at September’s Junior Presidents Cup which will be played just days before the senior version, also at Liberty National in New Jersey.

He will definitely play the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in Kansas in July and possibly the British Boys’ (under-18) again the following month. There is also the not so small matter of defending his historic Dubai Creek MENA Tour title and another MENA Tour stop at The Els Club, Dubai before the exciting Presidents Cup opportunity.

Thomas is happy with his game after back-to-back top 30s in Thailand which followed a T13 finish at the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley GC near Augusta National. After all the travelling and competition, he was glad to be back on the range Wednesday honing his swing with coach Justin Parsons at the Butch Harmon School of Golf in Dubai.

“We are working a little on shallowing him out [Thomas’ swing plane] and the way that he uses his shoulders in particular to complete his backswing. This will give him a nice, neutral ball flight,” said Parsons.

“We have also talked about getting a slightly lighter, stronger 2 iron in the bag which may be very useful around a links course.”

New U.S. Masters champion Sergio Garcia (1998), fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal (1984) and Italian star Matteo Manaserro (2009) are modern winners of The Amateur.

Bobby Jones won the title at St. Andrews in 1930 as part of his famous “Grand Slam”. John Ball, with eight wins, holds the record for the most British amateur titles and became the first English winner in 1890. In the modern era, Sir Michael Bonallack won five times between 1961 and 1970.

Hampshire 21-year-old Scott Gregory won the 121st title with a 2&1 victory over Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre at Royal Porthcawl in Wales last June.

Royal St George’s will host The Amateur Championship for the 14th time in its history in 2017.

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