Kipling said it best, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…” well, that is what Aaron Rai did at Aronimink Golf Club last Sunday afternoon.
Rai eagled nine, made a 50-something foot putt at 17 and won the PGA Championship beating some of the best players on the planet, including Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Cameron Smith, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele- taking home his first major and only his second PGA Tour win of his career.
There was a seismic shift in golf at the PGA Championship. The venerable Donald Ross Course, Aronimink, was set up to test the best golfers in the world, with deep rough and large undulating greens.
Scotty Sheffler called the pin placements “absurd.” Did the PGA of America set up the golf course to embarrass the best players? No, they set up the golf course to identify the best player. Aaron Rai was the best player this past week.
He is not the longest player off the tee but he was the most accurate. Playing from the fairway allowed him to hit his approach shots to the green in the proper place to give him a chance to make putts and make putts he did. Maybe bombing drives as far as possible and playing from the rough is not a winning strategy?
Frankly, I’d like to see more courses set up this way in the future—are you listening Shinnecock? The site of the U.S. Open this year is surely going to be another exciting test for the world’s best.
Aaron Rai, was strategic, patient, and persevered to earn the PGA Championship. Oh yeah, did I mention he is one of the nicest guys on tour? He is a man with no social footprint; he is a grinder. He said after the win “It’s such an amazing journey to get to this point. There’s so much that goes into it. It’s still hard for me to get my head around it because I also think what’s required to perform in a tournament like this, it is very different…having a larger view of things, a larger perspective on the journey to this point, you have to stay extremely present, extremely focused on what’s in front of you. But to try and reflect on it, it’s absolutely incredible.”
Rai was raised in Wolverhampton, in the section of England the British refer to as the Midlands. His father introduced him to the game. They watched Tiger Wood’s tapes on their old VHS as a way of instruction. His mom worked at a hospital and as an aerobics instructor to help fund their son’s passion for golf. Now Aaron Rai is a Major Champion.
The winner of the PGA Championship receives the iconic Wanamaker Trophy, a $3.69 million winner’s check from the tournament’s $20.5 million overall purse, and lifetime entry into future PGA Championships.
The Champion also secures a variety of prestigious career exemptions and tour privileges, including Major Exemptions: Five-year exemptions to the Masters, U.S. Open, and The Open Championship. Tour Privileges: A five-year PGA Tour membership and five-year entry into The Players Championship. In other words, life changing for a professional golfer.
Ben Kern, PGA General Manager at Hickory Hills Golf Club in Grove City, Ohio, earned Low PGA of America Golf Professional Honors at the 108th PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.
In his third PGA Championship appearance (2018, 2023), Kern claimed the honor for the second time with rounds of 74-67-77-72—290; he earned the first at Bellerive in 2018. Kern also was the sole member of the Corebridge Financial Team to make the weekend at Aronimink.
Also worth noting…Florida State University Alumni, Lottie Woad, won the Kroger Queen City Championship for her 2nd LPGA Tour Title.
There are four major championships in men’s golf: The Masters, The PGA Championship, The U.S. Open, and The Open Championship.
They are special, and I’ll be counting the days until the U.S. Open returns to Shinnecock Hills June 18 – 21.
In the meantime, hit more fairways, aim for the middle of the green, make more putts. Golf is a humbling game, appreciate every round, and as always: Enjoy your golf.
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