Aaron Rai: Indian Origin Golfer Makes PGA Championship History

2026-05-18 04:22:27

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Down the road from the city that produced one of Hollywood's ultimate underdog stories, Aaron Rai wrote an equally inspiring script at the PGA Championship on Sunday, delivering the knockout punch to become the first golfer from England to win the Wanamaker Trophy since 1919.

Rai came into the week a little-known long shot to win but emerged from a packed leaderboard on one of golf's biggest stages and was the last man standing at Aronimink Golf Club just outside Philadelphia.

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"To be standing here is definitely outside of my wildest imagination," said Rai, the first player in PGA Championship history to lower his score in each round.

Rai pulled away from the chasing pack with four back-nine birdies, including a 68-footer at the par-three 17th that delivered the knockout blow, en route to a five-under-par 65 that left him at nine under on the week and three shots clear of Jon Rahm (68) and Alex Smalley (70).

When Rai's final putt dropped there were still two pairings on the course, and while his name was already being engraved on the Wanamaker Trophy he did not break into the type of final-hole celebration typical of a newly-crowned major champion.

Rai's parents, Amrik Singh and Dalvir Shukla, were of Indian descent. His wife, Gaurika Bishnoi, is also a professional golfer from India.

The day began with a tournament-record 22 players within four shots of the lead entering the final round and for much of the day a playoff seemed inevitable.

Two-time major champion Jon Rahm, who finished tied for second, said Rai was renowned as one of the kindest and most respectful players on the PGA Tour.

Rai said that his humble outlook on life derived from his upbringing in the English Midlands as the son of migrants.

"My mom and my siblings were very fast to reinforce the importance of just being a good person and trying to do the right things away from golf," he said.

Rai also paid tribute to his wife, Gaurika Bishnoi, and his father, who was behind his habit of wearing two gloves and putting head covers on his irons as a reminder of how precious his clubs were when he was growing up.

"My dad was with me every day that I went to practice from the age of four or five years old, he actually quit his job and started to focus on my golf from a really young age," Rai said.

"He was very much an advocate to really just stay in your lane, focus on the things that you can do and I didn't really mix with a lot of other junior golfers, which didn't give me a perspective of what was normal."

Hard work and diligence were the other words being bandied about by his fellow players on Sunday when they were asked to describe the world number 44.

"There are a lot of guys that work extremely hard... so I think that's a prerequisite of what is just required to try and compete out here," Rai said.

"It's reaffirming to know that the things that we're doing are working and they're leading to continued development within the game. Hopefully I can just continue to move along a pretty similar path moving forwards."

Jim Barnes, who won the Wanamaker Trophy in 1916 and again three years later, was the only other Englishman in the long history of the tournament to win the PGA Championship.

"There's a lot of incredible and historic English players over those 100 years who have had phenomenal careers," Rai said.

"To be the person that's the first one in such a long time from England is an amazing thing, and something to be extremely proud of."