Aaron Rai wins PGA Championship: English golfer of Indian descent who loved F1 and discovered golf by accident

English professional golfer of Indian descent, Aaron Rai, stunned the golfing world on Sunday with a three-shot PGA Championship victory over Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley. It's not only Aaron Rai's biggest win of his career, but he has also become the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship in the stroke play era.

The 31-year-old Aaron Rai, who also became the first player in PGA Championship history to lower his score in each round, separated himself from a packed leaderboard with four back-nine birdies, including a 68-footer at the par-three 17th that delivered the knockout blow, en route to a five-under-par 65 that left him at nine under on the week.

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Aaron Rai makes history at PGA Championship

With the win, Rai becomes the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since it transitioned to stroke play in 1958 and the first since Jim Barnes in 1919.

When Rai's final putt dropped there were still two pairings on the course, and while his name was already being engraved on the Wanamaker Trophy he did not break into the type of final-hole celebration typical of a major champion.

"Very surreal," Rai said after his history-making win. "It's been a bit of a frustrating season so to be standing here is definitely outside of my wildest imagination."

The Wolverhampton-born Rai, who went out in the third-to-last pairing and two shots behind overnight leader Smalley, was one over through eight holes after mixing three bogeys with two birdies before kickstarting his round at the par-five ninth where he drained a monster 40-foot eagle putt.

Two holes later, Rai made birdie after stuffing his approach shot to four feet to grab a share of the lead with Matti Schmid. He had the outright lead shortly after when Schmid, playing in the final pairing, bogeyed the 10th.

Rai, with a slew of players breathing down his neck, then became the first player to reach seven under on the week with a birdie at the par-four 13th where he made a sensational up-and-down from a greenside bunker to move two clear.

After Schmid got back to within one of Rai, the Englishman birdied the par-five 16th to put one hand on the Wanamaker Trophy and then sealed the biggest win of his career with his mammoth putt at 17.

Aaron Rai's Indian heritage

Aaron Rai was born into a family with deep Indian roots on 3 March 1995. His father, Amrik Singh, was born in England to Indian immigrants, while his mother, Dalvir Shukla, moved to England from Kenya during her teenage years. Life at home revolved around hard work and discipline. Amrik balanced community work with his passion for amateur tennis, while Dalvir took up multiple jobs over the years, including working as a mental-health nurse and aerobics instructor. Aaron grew up alongside his three older siblings — two sisters and a brother — and completed his schooling at Wolverhampton Grammar School.

Golf entered Rai’s life in an unusual way. At the age of four, he was accidentally hit by his brother’s hockey stick, leaving his mother searching for a safer activity. She bought him a set of plastic golf clubs, unknowingly introducing him to the sport that would define his future.

As a child, Rai was equally fascinated by Formula 1 and often turned up at junior golf events dressed in Ferrari gear before eventually focusing entirely on golf. His earliest training took place at the Three Hammers Golf Complex, where he developed both his swing and discipline from a very young age. By the time he was five, he had already joined Patshull Park Golf Club.

Aaron Rai's golf career

Despite becoming a respected figure on tour, Rai’s rise at the highest level was far from instant. Before his breakthrough success at the 2024 Wyndham Championship, he had struggled to consistently challenge for titles on the PGA Tour. Across more than 120 PGA Tour appearances, top-five finishes were rare and major championships had not brought much success either. Before the 2026 PGA Championship, his best performances in majors were tied-19 finishes at the 2024 US Open and the 2025 PGA Championship.

Rai’s journey on the PGA Tour began in 2022, and while results initially came slowly, his steady improvement and consistency gradually earned attention. One of the most talked-about aspects of his game is his unique on-course routine. Rai wears two gloves while playing and also uses iron covers — both uncommon sights in professional golf.

The iron covers, however, carry emotional value for him. Rai has explained that during his younger years, equipment was precious and difficult to replace, so protecting his clubs became a habit. Even after reaching the PGA Tour, he kept the covers as a reminder of his journey, his upbringing and the sacrifices made along the way.

On the course, Rai is widely admired for his precision. While he possesses enough distance off the tee, his greatest strength lies in accuracy. He consistently finds fairways even on demanding layouts with narrow landing areas, making him one of the most reliable drivers in world golf. His calm temperament and disciplined style have helped him carve out a reputation as one of the steadiest players on tour.

With agency inputs