England’s Aaron Rai Seizes First Major at the PGA Championship With Spectacular Finish

Major champions are an eclectic bunch. For every Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, there’s a Jack Fleck and Shaun Micheel.

Going into the final round of the PGA Championship, 30 players were within five strokes of Alex Smalley’s 54-hole lead. Eleven of them were major champions.

Surely someone like Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, or Xander Schauffele would emerge victorious, right?

Nope.

Aaron Rai, a 31-year-old with one PGA Tour win to his name (2024 Wyndham Championship), would hoist the Wanamaker Trophy after a grueling week at Aronimink Golf Club as the sun basked over the City of Brotherly Love.

“It definitely feels like a journey,” said Rai, who turned pro in 2012 and played on European developmental circuits for several years. “Everyone playing in the field this week has a great journey to be able to share, and I’m no exception to that.”

The world No. 44 became the first Englishman to claim the PGA since Jim Barnes in 1919—which was just the second edition of the tournament. The major wouldn’t transition from match play to stroke play until 1958.

Rai, with a Sunday 65, his lowest round in a major championship, finished at nine under par, three strokes ahead of Smalley and Rahm.

Aaron Rai finishes with a brilliant Final Round 65 at Aronimink. 👏

He sets the clubhouse lead at 9-under and puts one hand firmly on the Wanamaker Trophy. 🏆#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/mM1YyC5iWS
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 17, 2026

He began the final day tied for second with Matti Schmid, Ludvig Åberg and Nick Taylor. And entering the back nine, the leaderboard was still jammed, leaving the door open for someone—anyone!—to make a move, as Justin Thomas held the clubhouse lead at five under.

That’s when Rai began to snatch the title.

One over par through his first eight holes, he was three back. Then, he holed a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 9th.

He was right back in the mix.

Two holes later, he plopped his approach from 96 yards to 4 feet, tying Schmid’s lead. And Rai would stand alone atop the leaderboard after the par-4 13th.

It was that hole where Rai hit arguably the most consequential shot of his win. A drivable, 299-yard par-4, Rai’s tee shot fell in the front right bunker, just missing the green. But Rai knocked his bunker shot inside 7 feet and made the birdie putt.

“Was on a slight upslope, which in a way helped to stay really aggressive on it,” Rai said. “But the upslope also made it difficult because it was such a long bunker shot. It was probably 40 yards or so. But just stayed really committed with that and really tried to trust the strike.”

Still, there was a lot of golf to be played, but Rai wasn’t fazed. If he just parred out, he’d likely be the champion.

Instead, the kid who grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver floored the gas pedal.

On the par-5 16th, Rai smashed his drive 338 yards en route to a birdie. He led by three. The next hole, the par-3 17th, he put the nail in the coffin with a 68-foot birdie putt.

“I was just trying to focus on speed and get it close,” Rai said. “It started to look really good line-wise with probably about 15 feet to go. Slowed up really nicely as well. So it just kind of conspired all together for that ball to go in the hole. But an incredible putt and a real bonus to see that one go in.”

Those behind Rai on the leaderboard seemed to be stuck in neutral all day. Rahm shot 68 and Smalley tied him for second with closing 20-foot birdie that capped a final-round 70 and secured a spot in next year’s Masters. Thomas, Schmid (69) and Åberg (69) were T4, and one stroke back of that trio was Cam Smith (68), McIlroy (69) and Schauffele (69). Scheffler (69) placed T14 at two under.

“What Aaron did today, catching him could have been very difficult,” Rahm said. “I don’t know if could happen, but I would have liked a better chance playing the last two holes. I feel like I was still close … until he made that long putt [on No. 17]” .

Rai tends to do unique things. He wears two gloves. He uses iron covers, paying homage to his humble upbringing, where he cherished clubs his father bought him, ones his family couldn’t necessarily afford.

So shocking the world and putting his name alongside the unlikely major champions like Fleck and Micheel, to name a few, isn’t out of the ordinary. It’s the moment he worked a lifetime for.

Only now, the goal for the rest of his career is to keep climbing and put his name alongside the greats. Regardless, he’ll always be part of golf lore after his spectacular Sunday in Philadelphia.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as England’s Aaron Rai Seizes First Major at the PGA Championship With Spectacular Finish.

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