Aaron Rai's brilliance saved an otherwise tedious PGA Championship
After four grueling days on a golf course that played slow and difficult, this PGA Championship was fortunate to have Aaron Rai's underdog magic.
To those out there surely wondering who on earth Aaron Rai might be, know this: He's the hero this year's PGA Championship was lucky to have. He was a clear and worthy winner who conjured an indelible moment of magic , sinking a 68-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to lock up his first major in what was a major upset. It was a feel-good story.
Rai is one of the hard-working , humble, well-liked players who toiled for years in pro golf without recognition on the biggest stages. All of it made for a nice surprise in the end. Because, for four days, it’d looked as if Aronimink Golf Club wasn’t about to permit such delights.
Until Rai’s brilliant back nine and 9-under-par finish, there hadn't been much appealing about this PGA Championship. Unless you are charmed by hours of pro golfers missing fairways and long birdie putts, forever playing it safe on approach shots to hole locations that were – to borrow Scottie Scheffler’s word – “absurd” in their difficulty. That wasn't a coincidence.
To explain, let’s go back a couple of years: In 2024, Bryson DeChambeau equaled the existing, all-time PGA Championship records for 72-hole total score and score versus par – and he didn’t lift the Wanamaker Trophy. At a record-setting 21 under, Xander Schauffele edged DeChambeau by one stroke at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, winning a PGA Championship that played easier than most random tour events. It was kind of embarrassing for a major.