Quiet brilliance and rail-perfect putting seal PGA title for Rai

English golfer Aaron Rai with the Wanamaker Trophy after he won the 108th PGA Championship in Philadelphia on Sunday. Image courtesy pgachampionship.com.

By Rahul Banerji

Aaron Rai became the second golfer of Indian heritage after Vijay Singh to win a major championship, emerging victorious at the 108th PGA Championship in Philadelphia by three shots on Sunday.

The Wolverhampton-born golfer’s three-shot victory at Aronimink Golf Club also made him the first Englishman to win the Wanamaker Trophy after Jim Barnes all the way back in 1916 and 1919.

Some more facts. The PGA has been won by a US golfer for the last 10 years. The last non-American to do so was Australian Jason Day in 2015 at Whistling Straits. 

The last European to win the PGA Championship before Rai was Rory McIlroy in 2014 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.

This year also marked the first time since 1934 — when golf transited to four major championships — that Europeans have won the first two events, Rai (in his 13th major start) on Sunday, and McIlroy at the Masters in April.

The ice-cool Rai was the only one in the field to improve on his score day by day, going from an opening 70 to 69 on day two, 67 on Moving Day and finally closing with a 65 to total 9 under par 271, three better than Jon Rahm and overnight leader Alex Smalley who tied for second.

That the result came against a chasing pack that included defending champion Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy, Rahm, Jordan Speith, Patrick Reed and fellow-Englishmen Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick only goes to underline the quality of Rai’s win.

Switching on

Trailing by three shots and 1 under for the round till the eighth hole, the 31-year-old eagled the par-5 ninth and then ran off seven straight one-putts to take the lead. 

Enroute he splashed out of the bunker on the par-4 13th for birdie and set up one more with his second shot on the par-5 16th.

The icing on the cake was a 69-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th that sealed the outcome, having played the last 10 holes in 6 under.

“To be here is outside my wildest imagination,” Rai said later. 

“Golf is an amazing game. It teaches you so many things … 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 much goes into it from being a junior golfer to developing the game to have aspirations of turning professional. 

“Then you realise 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.”

Aaron Rai with wife and fellow professional golfer Gaurika, whom he credits with playing a pivotal role in his game and career. Image courtesy pgachampionship.com.

Fulsome praise

Rai also paid generous tribute to his wide Gaurika Bishnoi, a professional on India’s Women’s Pro Golf Tour.

“She’s been incredible. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I wouldn’t be here without her. Both as a companion, as a friend, as someone I’m sharing my life with, but also as a real support system for my game. 

“She’s a professional golfer herself. So her mindset, her advice, her thoughts, whether it’s technique or the way I’m holding myself is absolutely invaluable. She encompasses so many different sides in her opinions.

“We even had a conversation yesterday for probably 30 minutes in the car just before we got back to the hotel, just speaking a little bit about today. Again, some of the things that she mentioned in the conversations were really with me today.

“Yeah, I really wouldn’t be here without her.”

On the title-sealing monster putt on 17, he added, “Definitely wasn’t trying to hole that putt. 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. 

Happy outcome

“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.”

Closest competitiors Rahm and Smalley were left looking on as Rai’s game heated up over the back nine. Rahm recorded his 15th top-10 finish and second runner-up in 38 major starts while for Smalley, it was a fourth career runner-up placing.

Major winners Cameron Smith, McIlroy and Xander Schauffele tied for seventh at 4 under 276 behind Thomas, Ludvig Aberg and Matti Schmid at 5 under 275, while Kurt Kitayama, Chris Gotterup, Rose and Reed completed the top 10 on 3 under 277.

For his efforts during the week, Rai earned $3.69 million, a lifetime exemption into the PGA Championship and five-year exemptions into the Masters, the US Open, the Open Championship and Players Championship.

Talk about rewards for a lifetime of peseverance, belief and discipline.

Also read: Winless Smalley leads PGA Championship field into Title Sunday

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