Aaron Rai Claims Maiden Major Title With Victory at 2026 PGA Championship

Aaron Rai emerged from the pack of a bunched leaderboard and took home the 2026 PGA Championship title with a 3-shot victory.

Aaron Rai Claims Maiden Major Title With Victory at 2026 PGA Championship

Aaron Rai (Image via X/@PGATOUR)

Aaron Rai took home the Wanamaker Trophy. On Sunday, the Englishman produced one of his finest performances at the Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania and claimed his first major title by winning the 2026 PGA Championship.

The second major of the year was a tight one. After the third round on Saturday, a total of 22 golfers were within 4 shots of the lead. The tough conditions of the course meant that there were plenty who had a good shot of winning the event with a strong showing in the final round.

Jon Rahm, who was T2 after the third round, was aiming to create history by becoming the first Spanish golfer to win this event. The 2-time major champion had been in fine form on the LIV Golf circuit and made 2 successive birdies to start the round on Sunday. This saw him climb up to No.1 in the leaderboard.

As for Rai, he had a mixed start. After a birdie on the first hole, he made a bogey on the 3rd. The 31-year-old bounced back with a birdie on the 4th hole. Bogeys on holes 6 and 8 saw him go 1-over par for the round.

It was the 9th hole where his momentum shifted. The eagle landed for him on this hole with an incredible 40-foot putt. This moved him just one shot off the lead.

Birdies on the 11th and 13th holes had put him in a driving range. Alex Smalley, who entered the field on Sunday as the 54-hole leader, stumbled on the 6th hole through a double bogey. By the time the American international got back to his best, Rai had run away.

Rai’s signature moment of the day came on the par-3 17th hole. After a birdie on the 16th hole, the 2024 Wyndham Championship winner drained a huge 70-foot birdie putt. As the ball dropped in the cup, the fans at Aronimink Golf Club erupted in celebration. He had opened up a 3-shot lead with just one hole left to play.

Though the golfer failed to make the birdie on the final hole from close range, he wrapped up the proceedings with a par and shot a score of 31 on the back nine. He eventually finished the day with a 5-under par score.

In the end, he finished 9-under par for the tournament and took the major title with a 3-shot victory. Before this event, Rai had never finished inside the top-15 of a major championship.

This win brings him a lifetime exemption at the PGA Championship. Along with that, he earned a 5-year exemption on the PGA Tour, the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open, and the Open Championship.

Runners-up Rahm and Smalley finished 6-under par with scores of 68 and 70 in the final round, respectively. Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler finished T14 in his title defense.

The World No.1 stumbled a bit in the third round as his putter went cold. While he posted a 1-under par in the final round, it was not enough to break into the top 10.

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Aaron Rai scripted history with his incredible PGA Championship win

In a bunched leaderboard, it was Aaron Rai who emerged from the pack. The golfer scripted several pieces of history on Sunday with his incredible triumph at the PGA Championship.

Aaron Rai
Aaron Rai (Image via PGA Tour)

Rai became the first English golfer in over a century to win the PGA Championship. The last time an Englishman won this event was all the way back in 1919, 107 years ago. In the second edition of the event, Jim Barnes had emerged victorious. Barnes had also won the first edition of the tournament in 1916.

Another record he made this week was regarding his scoring. Following an opening round of 70, he carded rounds of 69 and 67 on Friday and Saturday.

He went low again on Sunday with a final round score of 65. He thus became the first champion in the US PGA Championship history to lower his score in each round.

Last month at the Masters Tournament, he finished 48th. Before the event, he won the traditional Par 3 contest.

A week ago, he had recorded his best finish of the year with a 5th-place finish at ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. This major win has seen him jump up to 15th in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and 24th in the FedEx Cup rankings.

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