Newtown Square, Pa – On a major Sunday with nearly two dozen players in the mix within four shots of the lead at the 108th PGA Championship at Aronmink, journeyman Aaron Rai rose above the rest and came out on top. Rai was 1-over for the day through his first eight holes on Sunday. He flipped the script at the par-5 ninth when he made a 40-foot putt for eagle to make the turn at 1-under 34. From that point on, Rai was on a mission.
“We hit 5-wood,” said Rai, who was making just his 13th major start this week, of his approach to the par-5 ninth. “I think it was 260 yards to the pin. Slightly downwind, landed just short of the green, and came up very, very well. The putt going good on the green for eagle was definitely a bonus. Again, it was probably a 45-footer. I was just trying to focus on speed. Hit a great putt, great speed, and we were lucky it went in. Definitely helped and provided a bit of a boost to the round. I think previous to hole 9, we bogeyed No. 6 and bogeyed No. 8. So that definitely helped to get things moving in a better direction.”
Rai joined the leaders at 6 under after holing a 4-foot birdie putt at No. 11. After rolling in a 7-foot birdie at 13, he took the lead at -7… the chasers would not catch him. Rai made birdie at the par-5 16th to take a two-up lead. At the par-3 17th, Rai blew the roof off the Aronimink pouring in a nearly 68-foot putt for birdie to take a three stroke lead over the field.
“Definitely wasn’t trying to hole that put,” Rai admitted. “The shadow of the pin gave a really nice line for probably the last 10 feet. So that definitely helped with the visual of the putts. But it was so long that it was just trying to put good speed on it and make a good putt, and it just tracked extremely well on the last half. Yeah, amazing to see that one go in.”
Rai’s winning total was 9-under 274, besting Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley by 3. Cam Smith, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele tied for seventh at 4 under. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finished tied for 14th at 2 under.
“Golf is an amazing game,” Rai said. “It teaches you so many things, and it teaches you so much humility and discipline and absolute hard work because nothing is ever given in this game no matter what level you’re playing, no matter what course you’re playing on. So I think it just teaches so many amazing life skills. And I think pretty much every guy on Tour are incredible people, and I think the sport should be very proud of the ambassadors that represent the PGA Tour and represent the PGA of America.”
“So much goes into it from being a junior golfer to developing the game to have aspirations of turning professional,” Rai said. “Then you realize once you turn professional how good some of these guys are and how strong the level of professional golf is, not just on the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and all the feeders that go into it. So, yeah, it’s a really long journey to even get to compete at major championships at events like the PGA. Yeah, to be stood here, it still hasn’t sunk in for sure. Amazing journey.”
Rai is the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship, the last European to win the championship was Rory McIlroy at Valhalla Golf Club in 2014.
Dating back to 1934 (the start of the Masters, there had never been a year where Europeans won the first two majors.
Rai earned a lifetime exemption into the PGA Championship and five-year exemptions into the Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and the Players Championship.
