With one sizzling round of 65 at Aronimink Golf Club, Englishman Aaron Rai emerged from relative obscurity to fulfil his dream of landing a major title with a shock triumph at the PGA Championship.
The 31-year-old started his 13th major as a 300-1 outsider and the final round as one of 43 players, some of them household names, within five shots of the lead.
Rai kept his composure when it mattered, however, and picked up four birdies on the back nine, including one at the 17th on the back of a 68-foot putt, to become the first Englishman in 107 years to claim the Wanamaker Trophy.
"There’s so many different things that you face, whether that is in the game, whether that is acquiring the skills, putting the time in that is required, facing all the setbacks that come along with it,” said Rai, a former winner of the Hong Kong Open.
“It is certainly a roller coaster to get to these points, and a week like this, an achievement like this, certainly makes it all feel very much worthwhile.”
Two-time major 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 from India and Kenya.
Rai also paid tribute to his wife, Indian professional 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.
Jim Barnes, in 1916 and 1919, was the only other Englishman to win the tournament.
REUTERS
