How Aaron Rai Made History: Breaking England's 107-Year PGA Championship Jinx

Date:May 17–18, 2026 |Venue:Aronimink Golf Club, Philadelphia |Final Score:9-under par (70-69-67-65)

The 107-year wait ended on a rainy Sunday in Philadelphia.

Aaron Rai PGA Championshipvictory will be talked about for decades. The 31-year-old from Wolverhampton did something no Englishman had done since Jim Barnes in 1919.

He walked up the 18th fairway at Aronimink with a three-shot lead. No fist pumps. No tears. Just a shy wave to the crowd before hugging his caddie.

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That’s Aaron Rai for you. Quiet. Methodical. And wearing two gloves while everyone else wears one.

I’ve followed Rai’s career since his 2024 Wyndham Championship win. He never looked like a major champion on paper. Too short off the tee. Too robotic in his routine. But watching him dismantle a field of superstars on Sunday changed my mind completely.

Let me break down how he did it. No fluff. Just the real story of an underdog who punched above his weight in Rocky’s hometown.

The Drought: 107 Years Without an English Winner

Before Sunday, English golf had a scar.

Jim Barnes won thePGA Championshipin 1916 and 1919. Then? Nothing. For 107 years, Americans dominated this major. The last decade alone saw 10 straight US winners before Rai stepped up.

Think about the names who tried. Nick Faldo. Lee Westwood. Justin Rose. Tommy Fleetwood. All great players. None could break the curse.

Rai wasn’t supposed to be the one.

He had one PGA Tour win in 122 starts before this week. His best major finish was 19th. Bookmakers listed him at 150-1. Most casual fans had never heard of him.

That’s why this victory feels different. It’s not about dominance. It’s about persistence.

The Final Round: How Rai Pulled Off the Impossible?

Let me take you through Sunday at Aronimink. Because the way Rai won matters more than the fact he won.

The Slow Start That Fooled Everyone

Rai began the final round at 4-under par. Five players shared the lead ahead of him.

The first eight holes looked bad. He made bogeys at the 6th and 8th. At that moment, I thought he was fading. Most players do. The pressure at a major breaks people.

But Rai didn’t panic.

The Eagle That Changed Everything

Then came the 9th hole.

A long, bending eagle putt dropped. Suddenly, Rai was at 5-under and right back in it. That putt didn’t just change his score. It changed his posture. He walked taller after that.

The Back Nine Surge

Here’s where Rai did something special.

• Hole 11:Brilliant approach. Short birdie putt. Tie for the lead at 6-under.

• Hole 13:Outstanding chip out of a bunker. Another birdie.

• Hole 16:338-yard drive. Easy two-putt birdie. Move to 8-under.

• Hole 17:The shot everyone will remember. A 68-foot birdie putt. The second-longest putt made in the entire tournament.

Rai later admitted: “I definitely wasn’t trying to make that putt”. The shadow of the pin gave him the line for the last 10 feet. Sometimes luck finds the prepared.

He shot 6-under on the final 10 holes. In a tournament where pars were hard to come by, that’s ridiculous.

The Final Numbers

Rai became the first PGA Championship winner to lower his score in every round. That’s not luck. That’s a player figuring out a course better than anyone else.

Why Does Aaron Rai Wear Two Gloves? The Quirk Explained

If you watched the broadcast, you noticed immediately.

Two black gloves. Both hands. Every full swing.

Why does Aaron Rai wear two gloves?The answer is simpler than you think.

Rai started wearing two gloves when he was 8 years old. The glove maker sent him a pair. He got used to the feel.

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Then one day, his dad forgot to pack both gloves. Rai played with one. He described the experience as “terrible.” He couldn’t feel the grip. From that day forward, he never went back.

He wears MacWet gloves specifically. The brand originally made gloves for equestrian sports. The Aquatec micro-fibre material holds grip even in moisture.

Does he putt with two gloves?No. He removes both on the greens to feel the putter head. For bunker shots, he wears just one.

Is the two-glove look strange? Yes. Does it work for him? The Wanamaker Trophy says yes.

Here’s my take after watching him play: The second glove gives him confidence. Golf is a mental game. If wearing two gloves removes one doubt from his mind, that’s an advantage. It’s not about grip science. It’s about habit and trust.

Aaron Rai’s Wife: The Secret Weapon

You can’t tell this story without talking about Gaurika Bishnoi.

Aaron Rai wifeis not just a supportive spouse. She’s a professional golfer who might beat him on any given day.

Gaurika Bishnoi, 27, plays on the Ladies European Tour. She has eight wins on India’s Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour. Rai and Bishnoi married in July 2025.

Here’s what Rai said after winning the PGA Championship:

“I’m not exaggerating when I say that I wouldn’t be here without her. Both as a companion, as a friend, as someone I’m sharing my life with, but also as a real support system for my game.”

How good is she?Rai admits she beats him more often than he beats her in practice rounds at TPC Sawgrass. They have putting and chipping contests. “I do well to keep up with her,” he said. “She really is that good.”

The couple caddies for each other too. Rai caddied for Bishnoi at the Hero Women’s Indian Open. She caddied for him at the 2026 Masters Par-3 Contest.

That kind of partnership is rare in professional sports. Most golfers’ partners don’t understand the mental grind. Bishnoi lives it herself. That gives Rai a huge advantage.

Aaron Rai Scorecard Today: Breaking Down the Winning Numbers

Let me show you exactly how Rai got to 9-under.

Aaron Rai scorecard today(final round):

Key stats from the week:

• Hit 10 of 14 fairways in the final round

• Made the second-longest putt of the tournament (68 feet on 17)

• Never shot over par in any round

• Three-stroke margin of victory over Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley

Aaron Rai Winnings Today: The Financial Impact

Aaron Rai winnings todaychanged his life.

ThePGA Championshippurse paid Rai approximately £2.76 million ($3.5 million USD). That’s more than double his previous career earnings from his 2024 Wyndham win.

But the money isn’t the real story.

What changed immediately:

• Moved from World No. 44 to No. 15

• Secured PGA Tour exemption through 2031

• Qualified for the next four Masters tournaments

• Guaranteed spot in the next four Open Championships

• Locked in a 2027 Ryder Cup position (barring disaster)

Before Sunday, Rai was a fringe tour player. Now he’s a major champion with job security for the next five years.

The Course: Why Aronimink Made This Win Special?

Aronimink Golf Club played brutal.

The rough was thick. The pins were tucked. Organizers set up the course to punish low scores after 2024’s birdie-fest at Valhalla.

Scottie Scheffler called some hole locations “absurd”. Rory McIlroy said: “It hasn’t really enabled anyone to separate themselves. It’s easy to make a ton of pars, hard to make birdies.”

That’s why Rai’s final round stands out. In a tournament where par was a good score, he shot 6-under on the back nine alone.

Rai doesn’t hit it far. He’s one of the shortest hitters on tour. But Aronimink rewarded accuracy, not power. Rai hit fairways. He hit greens. He made putts when it mattered.

Philadelphia is Rocky Balboa’s city. An underdog winning here? Fitting doesn’t even cover it.

What Makes Rai Different: The Iron Headcovers and Humble Roots

Rai does two strange things on a golf course.

One:Two gloves. We covered that.

Two:He uses headcovers on his irons.

Most players only cover their driver and woods. Irons get thrown in the bag raw. Not Rai. He covers every single club.

Why? His father taught him to value every possession. Especially expensive golf clubs. Rai’s parents worked hard to give him a chance in golf. His mom bought him plastic clubs after he injured himself playing with hockey sticks as a kid. His dad drilled respect for equipment into him.

That headcover habit isn’t quirky. It’s a daily reminder of where he came from.

Rai is also known as one of the most humble players on tour. His victory celebration proves it. No screaming. No glove toss into the crowd. Just a tap-in on 18, a stand-up, and a shy wave.

Compare that to most major winners. Rai is the opposite of flashy. That’s why fans are falling for him.

Who Did Rai Beat? The Stacked Leaderboard

Look at the names behind Rai:

That’s four major winners in Rahm, Thomas, Smith, and McIlroy. Plus rising stars like Aberg and Schauffele.

Rai didn’t win because the good players had bad days. He won because he shot 65 on Sunday and nobody else could match it.

Schmid led at the turn. Rahm made a run. Thomas posted 5-under hours earlier. None of it mattered. Rai kept making birdies while everyone else made pars.

Lessons from Rai’s Victory (For Golfers Who Want to Improve)

You’re not a tour pro. Neither am I. But Rai’s game offers real lessons for weekend golfers.

Stop trying to hit it farther.Rai is short off the tee. He still won a major. Accuracy beats distance on tight courses.

Find your routine and stick to it.Rai’s pre-shot process never changes. Two gloves. Headcovers off. Practice swing. Go. Boring works.

Don’t change what works because it looks weird.Two gloves. Iron headcovers. Slow backswing. Who cares what others think? Results matter.

Have a partner who understands the mental game.You don’t need a pro golfer spouse. But having someone who gets why you care about a 3-foot putt helps.

The back nine is where tournaments are won.Rai shot 6-under on his last 10 holes. Most amateurs collapse on the back nine. Practice finishing, not starting.

The Historical Context: First European Duo of Majors

Rai’s win completed something unusual.

With Masters champion Rory McIlroy winning in April and Rai taking the PGA in May, European golfers have won the first two majors of the year for the first time in the four-majors era (since 1934).

That’s a stat that matters for the Ryder Cup. Europe just proved they can win America’s biggest events on American soil.

Rai is now firmly in the conversation for Bethpage in 2027.

Final Verdict: Rai’s Legacy After One Win

Is Aaron Rai a one-hit wonder? I don’t think so.

His game travels. He doesn’t rely on power. He relies on precision and putting. Those skills work anywhere.

The two-glove look will become his trademark. Kids will start copying it. Golf manufacturers will sell more MacWet gloves next month than all of last year.

But here’s the real measure of Rai: He stayed himself through the madness. After the win, he didn’t talk about rankings or money. He thanked his wife. He hugged his parents. He talked about the headcovers his dad taught him to use.

That’s not a guy who will change because he won a major.

The 107-year drought is over. An Englishman finally holds the Wanamaker Trophy. And he does it wearing two gloves, covering his irons, and smiling like he just finished a quiet practice round.

That’s Aaron Rai. That’s your 2026 PGA Champion.