Aaron Rai Wins First Major at 2026 PGA Championship
Aaron Rai emerged as the unlikely winner in a loaded field at Aronimink Golf Club for the 2026 PGA Championship, winning his first major title and only second tournament on the PGA Tour. The soft-spoken Englishman showcased poise and elite shot-making abilities in the final round, grabbing the lead on the back nine and holding on to lift the Wanamaker Trophy. Rai shot 5-under 65 to finish 9-under for the tournament, finishing three strokes clear of runners-up Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley.
For his victory, Rai earned $3.69 million in prize money and 750 FedExCup points. His previous best finish at a major was T19, which he achieved at the 2021 Open Championship, 2024 US Open, and 2025 PGA Championship.
Dominant Finish to Claim the Wanamaker
Rai was 6-under through the final 10 holes on Sunday at Aronimink, playing better than anyone else on the course that day and arguably the best golf of his career. His score of 5-under on Sunday tied for the second-lowest round of the day with Justin Thomas, a two-time PGA Champion winner who finished T4 at 5-under par. Rai shot an even par 70 in the first round and was 1-under 69 and 3-under 67 in rounds two and three.
Rai's breakthrough performance on Sunday was even more impressive considering who else was in contention. Major champions Thomas, Rahm, Cameron Smith, Rory McIlroy, and Xander Schauffele were all in contention at some point during the final round, but it was Rai who made the otherwise tough course look pedestrian.
The 31-year-old secured a two-stroke lead after making a birdie on the 13th following an impressive shot from a bunker. He made another birdie on the par-5 16th and then cemented his first major title with his defining shot of the tournament: a 68-foot birdie putt on the 17th to stretch his lead to four strokes.
First Player of Indian Descent to Win a Major
Rai was born in England to a father whose parents had emigrated from India and a mother who immigrated to England from Kenya. He is the first player of Indian descent to win the Wanamaker Trophy and only the second English player to win the major in 108 editions. Englishman Jim Barnes won the first two PGA Championships in 1916 and 1919.
While unheralded on the PGA Tour until this win, Rai had quietly been developing his game over the years. At 15, he holed 207 consecutive 10-foot putts to break the Guinness World Record. He made the HotelPlanner Tour, a feeder system to Europe's DP World Tour, in 2016 and won his first event on that tour the following year, earning DP World Tour status.
Rai earned his PGA Tour card in 2020. He finished 68th in the FedExCup standings in his second season on Tour and won his first title in his third year, beating runner-up Max Greyserman at the Wyndham Championship.
His Quirky Habits
While he's a soft-spoken, unassuming player, Rai stands out on Tour for two of his unusual habits. He's the only player to wear two gloves, a habit he picked up as a youth after playing a bad round with just one. He also uses covers on his irons, a quirk that stems from his working-class upbringing and his father teaching him to show respect for the expensive Titleist irons he bought.
"Anybody that uses head covers on his irons because he coveted his irons when he was a kid so much that he wanted to respect the equipment so much, and still does it?" said Rahm, speaking to the press. "That shows a lot about a person."
Most Unexpected Winner in Two Decades
The magnitude of Rai's surprise win can best be explained by his pre-tournament winning odds. DraftKings, one of the biggest sportsbooks in the US, had Rai at a 290-1 favorite to win the Wanamaker Trophy. They also took a $288 wager on his outright odds at 230-1, paying out more than $66,000. Those were the longest odds for a player who went on to win a major in the last 20 years, surpassing the 200-1 odds for 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and 2021 PGA Champion Phil Mickelson.
Rai was still listed at 18-1 to win the PGA Championship heading into the final round. At one point on Sunday, his odds lengthened to 44-1 on DraftKings.
Other Top-10 Finishers
Rahm and Smalley earned more than $1.8 million for their shared runner-up finish, while Thomas, Ludvig Aberg, and Matti Schmid finished T4, with each player earning $843,866. Smith, the Open Champion in 2022, had missed six of the last eight cuts at major championships since joining LIV Golf. He finished T7 with McIlroy and Schauffele, winning $637,050.
Four players—Kurt Kitayama, Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, and Patrick Reed—tied for 10th place at 3-under par. Kitayama had the low round of the day at 7-under 63.
Spieth Still Chasing Career Grand Slam
Jordan Spieth left Aronimink still chasing the career grand slam. The American finished T18 at 1-under par. He was tied for the early lead through the first six holes of the tournament.
This marked Spieth's 10th attempt at completing the career grand slam, a feat achieved most recently by Rory McIlroy when he won the 2025 Masters Tournament. Spieth won the Masters and US Open in 2015 and Open Championship in 2017. His best result at the PGA Championship was runner-up in 2015.