Rai covers the field at 'Aaron-imink'
Englishman proves nice guys can win against a quality pack at PGA Championship
Aaron Rai was all business in pulling away from the crowd to win PGA (Maddie Meyer/PGA of America)
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Aaron Rai is too nice to be confused with the find of folks on the City of Brotherly Love who once famously threw snowballs at Santa Clause. But if any champion exuded the blue-collar spirit of Philadelphia, it’s certainly the 31-year-old Englishman who sports two gloves and head covers for his irons.
Rai’s Sunday burst to sieze control of the PGA Championship at Aronimink — or should we call it Aaronimink? — was endearing. A hard worker whose rise to one of the pinnacle achievements in golf was as methodical as his pace of play, Rai’s collection of the Wanamaker Trophy was no fluke.
Rai broke free from the peloton densely packed in contention for all four days at Aronimink by charging with an eagle and four birdies in his last 10 holes on Sunday en route to a 5-under 65 and 9-under 271 total that was three clear in the end of two-time major winner Jon Rahm and 54-hole leader Alex Smalley.
Rai’s win — which sits above his maiden PGA Tour triumph in the 2024 Wyndham Championship as well as three DP World Tour victories — had its share of drama even if the finish proved rather comfortable for the Englishman of Indian and African descent.
Gaurika Bishnoi — his wife and a pro golfer herself from India — followed along as best she could outside the ropes among the masses at Aronimink, living and dying “always” with every shot and twist and turn. But what she saw on Sunday was her husband not just reaching a higher level but proing he belonged there.
“The way he was carrying himself, and the way he was so calm and composed, after the first eight holes, when things were exactly not really tipping towards him, that was enough win for me,” Bishnoi said. “Because when I see a professional golfer who’s able to do something like that, in such a high intensity situation, I know he can do it again.
“And even if we wouldn’t have lifted the trophy today, I knew that he’s to lift it very soon. So that, for me, was a very, like, very, very important step towards him tracking what it takes to win a major.”
Aaron Rai and his wife, Gaurika Bishnoi, are both successful pro golfers (Darren Carroll/PGA of America)
Rai was 1-over Sunday after the first eight holes for the day, already two strokes behind the clubhouse lead of 5-under posted early by two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas. Smalley and Germany’s Matti Schmid were at 6-under and playing in the final pairing.
That’s when Rai flipped the switch, draining a 40-foot eagle putt across the par-5 ninth green. As Philly fans say, “Fly, Eagles, fly!” — and Rai soared home from there. He carved up the more difficult second nine at Aronimink with surgical precision, adding birdies at 11, 13 and 16 to pull ahead and then slammed the door shut on anyone still harboring hopes with a 68-foot birdie putt across the par-3 17th green.
Rai was up by 4 at that point and the engraver shortly thereafter began etching his name on the Wanamaker Trophy even as a couple chasers had a few holes left to play.
Rai certainly seemed the unlikely player to break away from a crowd that included the likes of Rahm, Ludvig Åberg, Rory McIlroy, Cam Smith and Xander Schauffele. But there he was head, and shoulders and two gloves above them, the workman-like champion not even cracking a smile until long after the job was done.
Those he beat did not begrudge his victory.
“There won’t be one person on this property who won’t be happy for him,” said McIlroy, whose final-round 69 left him four behind in a tie for seventh.
“I have heard absolutely nothing but good or great things … there’s very few people that are nicer and kinder human beings than Aaron Rai. He’s been playing great golf. He’s a fantastic golfer. He’s been able to perform really well. What he did today is nothing short of special,” said Rahm, who tied for the lead with two birdies to start his round but couldn’t keep up with Rai on the back nine.
Rahm noted the backstory about Rai’s lifelong habi of protecting his irons with head covers.
“Anybody that wears or uses head covers in his irons because he coveted his irons when he was a kid so much that he wanted to respect the equipment so much, and to still do it? Yeah, exactly, he’s still doing it shows a lot about a person.”
Aaron Rai got to walk like a champion up to the 18th green (Darren Carroll/PGA of America)
Rai’s story has been told before, if not to such a large audience. When his father bought him a set of expensive irons, “he used to clean every single groove with a pin and baby oil,” Rai said. To protect the investment in those golf clubs, Rai thought it would be good to put iron covers on it. Rai continues the practice to not lose that perspective, even though he can easily afford new clubs since making on the European circuit with three prior wins over there that counta pair of playoff wins against Tommy Fleetwood including the 2020 Scottish Open.
Hailing from Wolverhampton in the dead center of the English Midlands, Rai is the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes — who won the first two editons of the PGA Championship in 1916 and 1919. That inaugural Barnes victory came when he was employed as the head pro at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club in Pennsylvania, about 14 miles away from Aronimink. It’s Whitemarsh Valley that’s engraved on the Wanamaker Trophy that now bears Rai’s name.
What a long strange trip it’s been from Barnes to Rai.
“It definitely feels like a journey,” said Rai, who only a week ago finished fifth in the PGA Tour’s opposite Myrtle beach event because he wasn’t eligible for the signature Truist Championship at Quail Hollow.
“Everyone playing in the field this week has a great journey to be able to share, and I’m no exception to that. So much goes into it from being a junior golfer to developing the game to have aspirations of turning professional. 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. To be standing here, amazing journey, it still hasn’t sunk in for sure. Amazing journey.”
Three years ago, before he had won on the PGA Tour, Rai was in the Genesis Invitational but not in the pro-am. He had never met tournament host Tiger Woods so he decided to follow the 15-time major winner on the entire back nine during his chilly morning pro-am at Riviera.
Why? Because Rai began playing golf because of Woods. “He’s been my idol since a young age,” he said. Welcome he finally got introduced to Woods, Rai said “he made me feel very welcome.”
Now he can welcome Tiger to next year’s PGA champions dinner in Frisco, Texas, if Woods is back competing by then.
Rai makes his U.S. home near Jacksonville, Fla., and plays with his wife out of TPC Sawgrass. She doesn’t take any shots when they play but the manage to be competitive considering Bishnoi has won eight times on India’s Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour and also competes on the Ladies European Tour.
“So we do a lot of wedge competitions and that’s generally where I’m good,” Bishnoi said. “And we do a lot of putting competitions and that’s where I’m good. But when I kind of take him on with driving accuracy and approach shots, maybe that’s where I’m not so good. So we have like a lot of things to learn from one another, which we do as well, which makes us like better golfers.”
It certainly showed at Aronimink.