Aaron Rai won the USPGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia on Sunday. It earned him his first major championship but he was hardly a name out of nowhere. He has been in the world’s top-50 for a while – now he is up to 15th – and he won this from a final-day leaderboard which showed 21 players within four shots of the lead, eight of them previous major champions.
The highlights of Rai’s closing 65 were two huge putts. He holed from 40 feet for an eagle at the 9th, to help remedy the three bogeys he had already made, and made a two from 68 feet on the 17th. That effort was significantly uphill and curling; he was distinctly in three-putt territory. He thus went to the final tee with a three-shot lead and he could pretty much enjoy the walk home. He won by three from Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley.
Rai was born in England to parents of Indian and Kenyan heritage. “It’s hard for me to really express everything I feel towards them,” he said. “My dad was with me every day that I went to the practice range at the age of four. My mum has been absolutely incredible as well; she works extremely long hours to provide for the house.” It was the efforts of his father hustling to get a golf-glove deal in the early days which led to him getting two, which in turn has led to him idiosyncratically now wearing one on each hand. Expect glove manufacturers to enjoy a bumper year of selling right-hand gloves!
Rai is not your stereotypical tour pro. He drives a vintage Honda. He is not on social media. Heck, he doesn’t have an agent. Is he a good guy? You bet. Rory McIlroy said: “You won’t find a person on the property who’s not happy for him.” From Rahm: “There’s very few people that are nicer and kinder human beings than Aaron.” And Ludvig Aberg: “If there’s one guy I’d love to lose to, it’s probably him.” Aberg did just that; he played with Rai on Sunday. The odds have significantly shortened on all four of those names being on the European Ryder Cup team next year.
His victory meant that Rai became the first Englishman to win the PGA since Jim Barnes in 1919. Barnes lived in the United States for most of his life (Rai, who hails from Wolverhampton, now lives in Florida) and won four major championships in total. Rai may not manage that but, at 31, he still has some time on his side.
The only previous major championship to be held at Aronimink was the 1962 PGA, won by Gary Player. That was the third leg of his career Grand Slam, which he would go on to complete in 1965. This year at Aronimink Jordan Spieth was, as McIlroy had been at Augusta last year, aiming to complete his career Grand Slam. His wait has not been quite as long as McIlroy’s was, standing as it does at nine years since he won the Open Championship at Birkdale, but he is still waiting.
He finished in a tie for 18th last week, eight shots behind Rai. Will he ever get there? The PGA has stubborn form in this regard. Tom Wason won eight majors but no PGA. Arnold Palmer won seven and had the same void on his CV. Spieth is 32. McIlroy completed his set at the age of 35. Like Rai, Spieth still has time. But then time waits for no one.