Aaron Rai became the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since 1919 when pulling clear of a bunched field at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia to win his first major title.
The 31-year-old from Wolverhampton upset his 250-1 odds, and outfought a host of battle-hardened major champions, including Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Cameron Smith and Xander Schauffele, to lift the Wanamaker Trophy after catching fire on a hot Sunday afternoon in Pennsylvania to win by three shots.
The first non-American to win the PGA Championship in a decade, Rai leant on his fairway-finding skills off the tee, laser-like iron play and a hot Sunday putter to separate himself from the field which had been compressed over the previous three days by windy conditions, fast fairways and some very challenging pin positions.
Although one of the shortest hitters on tour – he ranks 161st in driving distance on the PGA Tour – Rai made the most of the fast-running fairways to get the ball far enough down the fairways to give himself the chance to hold the undulating greens with his approaches and then let his putting touch work its magic.
Starting the final round two shots off the lead, Rai played the first eight holes in one over par, making two birdies and three bogeys. His round caught fire at the par-five 9th, where he hit his second shot from 270 yards to 25 feet and holed for eagle to reach the turn in 34.
When he birdied the 413-yard 11th and the reachable par-4 13th – getting up and down from a greenside bunker – to go 7-under it looked like a score which would be hard to beat.
Nowhere was Rai’s methodical approach better shown than when he parred the 527-yard, par-4 15th – a hole bogeyed by a quarter of the field – where he drove the ball 293 yards, hit a 225-yard approach to 30 feet and then two putted for a stress-free par. He then birdied the 551-yard, par-5 16th after finding the green in two, and then doubled down on the 210-yard, par-3 17th hole, where he found the green and then drained a stunning 68-foot birdie putt to move four shots in front and effectively shut the door on his toiling rivals.
Playing three groups ahead of the unheralded final pairing of Matt Schmid and Alex Smalley, Rai finished with a stress-free par on 18 and had to wait almost 45 minutes before he could properly celebrate his famous win.
It a major victory packed full of record-breaking stats, Rai became the first player since Mark O’Meara’s Open Championship victory in 1990 to record better scores in each of the four rounds, scoring 70, 69, 67 and 65 to finish on 9-under-par on Aronimink’s par-70 course.
That was enough to end three shots clear of Spain’s two-time major champion Jon Rahm and unheralded American Alex Smalley – the overnight leader – who finished joint second.
SURREAL MOMENT
“It is very surreal,” said Rai, who has struggled to practise at times this year because of a neck injury. “It has been a frustrating season, so being stood here is outside of my wildest imagination.”
Speaking about the magical putt on 17, he added: “I definitely wasn’t trying to hole that putt. The shadow of the pin gave a nice line for the last 10 feet so that helped with the visual. It just tracked really well – it was amazing to see it go in.”
ARONIMINK’S ALSO-RANS
Behind Rahm and Smalley there was a three-way tie on five under between American two-time champion Justin Thomas, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and little-known German Matthias Schmid.
Thomas had posted the early target after a five-under 65, then sat back in the clubhouse to watch and wait, while hoping for a “little bit of help” to win.
The wind did not whip up as Thomas hoped. Yet, with the severely sloped greens playing firm in the Pennsylvanian sun and the thick rough continuing to be penal, scoring opportunities remained at a premium.
Bidding to add a third US PGA title to his CV, Rory McIlroy closed with a one-under 69 to finish five shots behind Rai in a tie for seventh place. The reigning Masters champion started the day three back of Smalley and birdied the second hole, but his frustration grew during a run of 10 pars before his hopes were virtually extinguished with a bogey at the driveable par-four 13th.
Errant off the tee – hitting just four out of 14 fairways – the six-time major winner also failed to birdie either par five on Sunday and finished level par on the longer holes for the championship.
“I’m proud that I gave myself a chance,” the world number two said. “But there are three holes I’ll rue – not birdieing the two par fives and then making bogey at the driveable par-four. Those three holes cost me a chance to win.”
Rahm birdied the first two holes to quickly reach six under and a share of the lead before dropping shots at the third and seventh holes. Although the Spaniard picked up birdies at the two par-fives to finish in a tie for second, he could not match the blistering pace set by Rai.
Rahm and McIlroy’s Ryder Cup team-mates Ludvig Aberg and Justin Rose were also unable to make a run at it. Aberg threatened to challenge, but three bogeys in four holes around the turn derailed his challenge before two birdies in his final three holes lifted him into a share of fourth on five under, while Rose finished with nine straight pars to close on three under and a tie for 10th.
There was no charge from world number one Scottie Scheffler. The defending champion began the round five back, but his putting woes continued – he missed 13 putts inside of 10ft throughout the week – as he finished seven shots off the winning mark in a tie for 14th.
But the week, and the Wanamaker Trophy, belongs to Aaron Rai – the last man standing at Aronimink, and a thoroughly deserving major champion.
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Aaron Rai’s PGA Winning Gear
Driver: TaylorMade M6 (9°)
Fairway Woods: TaylorMade Qi10 (15°, 18°)
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (24°)
Irons: TaylorMade P7TW (5-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (44°, 49°), Titleist Vokey SM11 (54°), Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks (60°)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour V
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Shoes: ECCO Biom Tour
Gloves: MacWet