Aaron Rai shifted into high gear on Sunday and pulled away from a world-class field with one amazing shot after another until he became the first English-born player in more than a century to capture the PGA Championship.
Rai, who dreamed of being a Formula 1 driver until he turned to golf as a boy, was three shots behind and approaching the turn at Aronimink Golf Club when he delivered a performance worthy of a major champion. He made a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 ninth during a stretch when he one-putted seven straight greens to take the lead.
And on the closing holes when the contenders needed him to stumble, Rai holed a birdie putt of some 70 feet across the 17th green for the clincher. The 31-year-old Rai, who joins two-time PGA champion Vijay Singh as major champions of Indian heritage, closed with a 5-under 65. “To be here is outside my wildest imagination,” Rai said.
Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Smith, Justin Rose, all major champions, all of them in position until they were undone by untimely mistakes or failure to get good looks at birdie. McIlroy, who closed with a 69, played the par 5s in even for the week, and he chopped up the reachable par-4 13th for a bogey. He also glared and softly cursed at a fan who said, “USA” after McIlroy hit a wedge from the rough to the bunker on the par-5 16th. It was an indication McIlroy knew his hopes were all but gone.
Rai, who finished at 9-under 271, is the first player from England with his name on the Wanamaker Trophy since Jim Barnes in 1919, the second edition of this major and the first after World War I. He wound up winning by three shots over 54-hole leader Alex Smalley and Rahm, who had his best finish in a major since defecting to LIV Golf at the end of 2023. Rahm was slowed by a pair of bogeys on the front nine and managed only one birdie on the back nine for a 68.
The 22 players within four shots of the lead going into the final round was a PGA Championship record. From that pack emerged the 31-year-old Rai, with one PGA Tour title, three on the European tour and no finishes inside the top 15 at any of the majors.
Rai hit a 5-wood into the ninth for his 40-foot eagle putt. He saved par with a 10-foot putt on the 10th. He hit a wedge to 4 feet to a dangerous pin on the 11th for birdie. He got up and down from behind the 12th green for par. And on the 292-yard 13th hole, which tripped up McIlroy and Schauffele and Nick Taylor of Canada when they were right in the mix, Rai blasted out of a bunker to 6 feet for a birdie to become the first player all week to reach 7 under. And then he kept right on going. Rai now has a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour, and into the Masters, US Open and British Open. He can play the PGA Championship for life.
Also read: Veteran Indian golfer Vijay Kumar is no more
Follow us
