Where better to witness an underdog triumph than in the iconic city of Philadelphia, home to Rocky Balboa? And who better to defy expectations than a golfer with quiet determination and skill? Enter Aaron Rai, a relatively unheralded player in the world of golf, who has now claimed the title of major champion.
In an endearing turn of events, Rai, a modest and steady player from Wolverhampton, made history by becoming the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes in 1919. His victory also earned him a substantial prize of £2.76 million.
Rai’s success was nothing short of extraordinary, as he surpassed a field filled with seasoned professionals and lesser-known talents alike, delivering a victory that perfectly matched the unpredictable nature of this year’s tournament.
With a winning score of nine under par, Rai showcased his skill through a masterful round of 65. His approach was consistent and strategic, avoiding risky plays that could have led to costly mistakes. This level-headed style resulted in a three-stroke lead over competitors who were expected to outshine him.
Among those who trailed him were some of golf’s heavyweights. Jon Rahm put up a strong fight with a score of 68, finishing at six under. He was joined by Alex Smalley, with Justin Thomas and Ludvig Aberg close behind. Their formidable presence only highlighted the magnitude of Rai’s achievement.
That same cluster included the charming tales of Matti Schmid, but thereafter more monsters were waiting – Rory McIlroy, for one. He never got going in a 69, but a tie for seventh will count as a decent return from what he described as a ‘s***’ first round, and next to him were Cameron Smith and Xander Schauffele. Between that grouping spanning second to seventh were men worth 11 majors; in proximity was Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose.
Aaron Rai is the PGA Championship winner after holding his nerve in a tense final round
The 31-year-old surged beyond a close field with a final round score of 65 in Philadelphia
The point being that auras weigh a tonne down the stretch on a Sunday. And Rai blew a final-round lead on the PGA Tour a week ago.
Not here, though. Not on this day, which crowned a champion in Rai, the guy without an agent. The swinger who wears two gloves. The working-class man of 31 who still wraps his irons in protective covers because he’ll never forget how much that first cherished set of Titleist 690MBs cost his dad.
Standing at 44th in the world and a one-time winner on the PGA Tour, he is no one’s idea of a slouch but nor is he feared. In the land of mammoth hitters, he ranks 160th for driving distance. But maybe that was his superpower at this 108th edition of the PGA Championship – it is has veered away from the trend of the modern golf and favoured skills beyond brute force.
It has put a premium on accuracy, both off the tee and from the fairway, and then it has rewarded the calm minds who can get down in two from the putting surface.
So let’s consider a few details that make the surprise a little less shocking – in the past two seasons, Rai has been the most accurate driver on the PGA Tour. Going further back, right to the time he was a child who dreamt of racing a Formula One car, he once set a world record as a 15-year-old by sinking 207 consecutive putts from 10 feet. That skill has carried into adulthood, by the way.
And somehow it has allowed this magic to happen, because those stars aligned perfectly over the quirky hills of Aronimink Golf Club. They shone so brightly you might be tempted to tweak that old Dubliners tune and rename this place the Fields of Aaron Rai.
Rai, who has one of the shortest drives in golf, outsmarted his rivals to take the crown
To pick a highlight of his career-defining round would be easy, but also instructive. Because by the time Rai stepped on the ninth tee, he was slipping a little from his overnight tie for second having played the previous eight in one over par. But then he did his thing – he found a fairway at the par five, reached the green in two, and then rolled in a 40-footer for eagle.
He rode that big old bird into the lead and only soared higher from there, setting up a remarkable back nine that he completed in 31 strokes, with the flourish of an almighty putt from 68 feet on the 17th. Pressure? He handled it like an old master.
We ought to add here that no one foretold of a runaway leader. Not with so many men in the pack.
By the time the final group of Smalley and Schmid made it to the first tee, at 2.35pm, the increased scoring potential had already been made abundantly clear by Kurt Kitayama – his bogey-free 63 was jointly the lowest ever recorded in the final round of a major.
The wind was gentler, the pin placements were marginally kinder, and therein existed a dangerous siren call for those with the prize in sight. After three days of cautious plotting and careful putting, they finally had an option to attack this course. Rai was the most conservative among them and flourished, but Rahm was the first to strike by opening with back-to-back birdies.
He surged to six under and a share of the lead, which dovetailed with Smalley’s crucial stumble on the sixth, a driveable 380-yarder fortified by an utterly diabolical pin position that was cut eight feet from the front of the green and just four from the right-hand rough.
Smalley’s drive pulled left into the rough and after two further hacks he still wasn’t on the putting surface – a double bogey six would send him back to four under. He recovered in time to a 70 and a stunning result, but that is where his damage was done. For the record, Rai bogeyed that hole, along with the third, sixth and eighth.
Rai embraces wife Gaurika Bishnoi following his stunning triumph on Sunday in the US
But his eagle just before the turn was transformative. It was the kind of timely jolt that evaded too many of the chasers, such as McIlroy. A brilliant birdie on the second was merely the precursor for 10 straight pars – his driving regressed from the promise of Saturday. Smith, meanwhile, was held back by tee shots that sprayed to the outer reaches of the property.
Rahm? This week was nothing but a success for a man who had much to prove about his standing since joining LIV, but he failed to take chances on both halves of the course. Aberg will perhaps feel the same about another flat Sunday.
Rai was a different story. He stomped his foot on the back with an early marker – a 95-yard approach up the steep hill to the 11th green set up a tap-in birdie for six under, which is when he tied the lead briefly held by Schmid.
A moment later, the German dropped one at the 10th and Rai was out on his own. A six-footer on the 13th gave him a two-shot lead and two became three when he followed that same route of fairway to green to two putts on the 16th.
A 68-footer for birdie on the 17th prompted a fist pump, Rai’s first of the tee. Before long, those gloves of a silent assassin were being removed for a trophy presentation. Stunning, really.