Aaron Rai holed a 68-foot putt on the 17th green to preserve a two-shot lead and clinch the PGA Championship, the report says. The long roll dropped with the course bathed in a late orange light, prompting a roar from the Aronimink grandstands that had been largely quiet for much of the day.
The amphitheater around the 17th had been constructed with a pivotal moment in mind, the report says, but for most of the final round the hole failed to produce fireworks. No one in contention managed a birdie on the 17th on Sunday, and several of the biggest names in the field had receded or were stuck in neutral as the leaderboard tightened.
Rai, described in the report as a 31-year-old who emerged without much fanfare, was not even trying to make the long putt, he said. “That putt on 17 was incredible,” Rai said. “I was just trying to focus on speed and get it close. 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.” When it dropped, Aronimink “exploded as loudly as it had all week,” the report says, and a fan shouted, “That’s a PGA Champion right there!” as Rai walked to the 18th tee.
The report notes several of Rai’s unconventional habits and background details. He is one of the seven shortest players on the PGA Tour off the tee, uses a driver released seven years ago, wears two black gloves for every full swing, uses a plastic orange tee and keeps iron covers on his clubs. Rai’s introduction to golf came after a childhood accident with a brother’s hockey stick; his mother, who immigrated from Kenya to England, bought him plastic clubs, and his father, who immigrated from India to England, quit his job to help him focus on the game.
Rai credited his father for helping him “stay in your lane, focus on the things that you can do,” per the report. Players who fell short in the final round did not withhold praise: “You won’t find one person on property who’s not happy for him,” Rory McIlroy said, the report says, as the crowd embraced Rai following his closing moments.
