Rai wins his first major PGA tournament with late birdie run
Rai carded birdies on four of his final eight holes, including a spectacular near 20-yard putt for birdie on the par-3 17th hole, to post a 5-under 65 and finish at 9-under overall with a four-round total of 271 at Aronimink.
Image by Aaron Rai
Aaron Rai captured the first major of his career Sunday by taking the PGA Championship, becoming the first Englishman to win the tournament since 1919.
Rai birdied four of his last eight holes, including a spectacular 20-yard birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole, to card a 65, five under par, and finish with a cumulative 271, nine under par, after four rounds at Aronimink.
Rai said the win was "very surreal" after a season in which he has had to deal with a neck injury.
The 31-year-old Wombourne-born Rai took the top prize of $3.69 million, from a record purse of $20.5 million, plus the Wanamaker Trophy after an emotionally charged final day.
The Englishman beat Spain's Jon Rahm, a two-time Grand Slam champion, and American Alex Smalley by three strokes, while American Justin Thomas, Germany's Matti Schmid and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg shared fourth place with 275 strokes.
The Englishman also became the first player from his country to win the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes, winner of the first two editions of the tournament in 1916 and 1919.
Rai, who had never finished higher than 19th in his 12 previous major tournament appearances, won his third DP World Tour title last November in Abu Dhabi and his only PGA Tour title in 2024 in Greensboro.
A cautious close
Playing cautiously into the wind on the sloping greens at Aronimink, the world's best golfers faced the field and each other in a battle that changed course when Rai took the lead.
Rai reacted to a bogey on the eighth hole with an eagle from 12 yards on the par-5 ninth, then strung together birdies from 1.2 yards on the 11th and 2.1 yards on the 13th, becoming the first of the week to reach seven under par.
Matti Schmid, seeking his first PGA Tour title in just his fifth major appearance and his PGA Championship debut, holed a birdie from just over six feet on the 13th hole to move within one stroke of the leader.
Rai responded by reaching the green in two strokes on the par-5 16th for a comfortable birdie, before delivering the decisive blow on the 17th with a long putt over a hill to reach nine under par, while Schmid finished with a bogey on the 15th that opened the final gap.
Rahm holds on; McIlroy still on the prowl
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, a recent winner of his sixth major at the Masters, carded a round of 69 to share seventh place with Xander Schauffele and Cameron Smith.
Alex Smalley, the leader at the start of the day, suffered a double bogey at the sixth and a bogey at the eighth that took him out of contention.
Defending champion and world number one Scottie Scheffler closed with 69 strokes for a 278 total.
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