While driver and fairway wood covers are a common sight among most golfers, PGA Tour star Aaron Rai uses a piece of equipment that many of his rivals do not - iron covers.
For the entirety of his stint as a professional, and for years before that, the Englishman - who also wears two gloves out on the course - has turned up every week with protection for his irons. The simple reason for his choice is because he wants to "appreciate the value" of what he has and ensure he never forgets where he came from.
While it is perhaps a strange sight to see a Tour player using what are a commonly laughed about golf accessory, Rai's story of his family life makes for a heartfelt story about why he keeps them on.
Speaking about the subject after earning his first PGA Tour card in 2021, Rai described that a set of Titleist 690 MBs his father bought him when he was just seven years old were his pride and joy.
Chatting to the PGA Tour's Sirius XM after graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour, Rai said: "I grew up in very much a working-class family and golf has always been a very expensive game.
The story behind Aaron Rai using iron covers will make you feel bad about ever making fun of iron covers 🥲"It's more out of principle and it's more out of just the value of not losing perspective of what I have and where I am."pic.twitter.com/y2n2O1CLSyJune 29, 2024
"It started from the age of four years old, when my dad used to pay for my equipment, he paid for my membership, paid for my entry fees. It wasn't money that we really had, to be honest, but he'd always buy me the best clubs.
"I cherished [the Titleist 690MBs]. When we used to go out and practice, he used to clean every single groove afterward with a pin and baby oil, and then to protect the golf clubs he thought it would be good to put iron covers on them. And I've pretty much had iron covers on all my sets ever since, just to kind of appreciate the value of what I have.
"Although I'm on the PGA Tour and we get given equipment, we get given anything that we need, it's more out of principle and it's more out of just the value of not losing perspective of what I have and where I am. So the covers are going to stay."
Rai - who has six professional wins, including one Rolex Series victory at the 2020 Scottish Open where he fended off Tommy Fleetwood in a tense playoff - is yet to win on the PGA Tour in 84 starts but has enjoyed an impressively consistent couple of seasons at the top.
Since the beginning of the 2022-23 PGA Tour campaign, Rai has five top-10s, 17 top-25s, and has only missed 14 cuts in 50 starts.
He is in contention for his maiden PGA Tour triumph at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic alongside Akshay Bhatia, though, but the 29-year-old will have to hold off the challenge of several rivals to stand in the winner's circle on Sunday night.
