Perhaps it's fitting that the man left standing at the end of the most chaotic PGA Championship in recent history entered the week without a top-15 finish in his major career.
Aaron Rai may not have been the biggest name on the leaderboard Sunday, but he left no doubt he was the best player this week with some brilliant golf down the stretch. The Englishman rose from the pack going 6-under over his final 10 holes, punctuating the win with an epic 68-foot putt for birdie on No. 17 to ice his first major championship at Aronimink.
A star-studded group of chasers featuring the likes of Jon Rahm, Ludvig Aberg, Rory McIlroy, and Xander Schauffele were unable to match Rai shot-for-shot, and the Englishman's victory means Europeans have won the opening two majors of the season for the first time since 1934.
| Position | Players | Total to par | Round 4 score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Rai | -9 | 65 |
| T-2 | Jon Rahm | -6 | 68 |
| T-2 | Alex Smalley | -6 | 70 |
| T-4 | Justin Thomas | -5 | 65 |
| T-4 | Matti Schmid | -5 | 69 |
| T-4 | Ludvig Aberg | -5 | 69 |
| T-7 | Cam Smith | -4 | 68 |
| T-7 | Rory McIlroy | -4 | 69 |
| T-7 | Xander Schauffele | -4 | 69 |
| T-10 | Kurt Kitayama | -3 | 63 |
| T-10 | Chris Gotterup | -3 | 69 |
| T-10 | Justin Rose | -3 | 69 |
| T-10 | Patrick Reed | -3 | 70 |
A day that saw a record 22 men enter within four shots of Alex Smalley's lead was as dramatic as expected, starting early with Kurt Kitayama's record-tying 63 from the fourth group of the day. That showed the chasers what was out there, and Justin Thomas took that challenge to heart to make his run.
Thomas erased a 7-shot deficit at the 2022 PGA Championship to win the event for the second time and looked poised to repeat that feat after a 5-under 65. His 5-under tournament total held up for a long stretch in the afternoon, with nobody at the top of the leaderboard able to make as push.
The lead changed hands between Smalley and Matti Schmid, with Rahm and McIlroy lurking just below as the final groups neared the back nine. Separation still seemed borderline impossible on the challenging layout, with it becoming obvious that anybody pulling off a burst of birdies was destined to be champion.
While the odds would have suggested it would be someone with the pedigree of Rahm or McIlroy, it was Rai that seized the moment starting on the 9th hole. A 40-footer for eagle brought him within one of Schmid's lead heading to the back nine and ignited his all-time closing stretch.
"The putt going good on the green for eagle was definitely a bonus," Rai admitted. "Definitely helped and provided a bit of a boost to the round. I think previous to hole 9, we bogeyed No. 6 and bogeyed No. 8. So that definitely helped to get things moving in a better direction."
That direction would be up the leaderboard at warp speed, with Rai adding birdies on 11 and 13 before nearly adding another eagle on the par-5 16th. The birdie on 17 wasn't necessary, but the outrageous putt that sent the crowd into hysterics will certainly serve as the top highlight in his career thus far.
"Definitely wasn't trying to hole that putt," Rai said with a smile. "It was so long that I was just trying to put good speed on it and make a good putt, and it just tracked extremely well on the last half. Amazing to see that one go in."
His victory marks the first PGA Championship claimed by an Englishman since the tournament changed its format to stroke-play, and ends a 10-year run of American champions at the season's second major. It's also the first time the winner improved his score each day of the tournament in the history of the event.
