Aaron Rai secured the 2026 US PGA Championship at Aronimink, closing with a five-under-par 65. The victory breaks a 107-year drought for English golfers at the second major of the season. Rai now firmly establishes himself among the global elite.
Rai navigated a crowded leaderboard that featured 21 players within four strokes at the start of the final round. Eight major winners populated that list, requiring the Englishman to produce exceptional metrics across all categories. Relying on elite driving accuracy and superior Strokes Gained: Approach figures, he systematically dismantled the layout. His scorecard progression culminated on the 17th green. Faced with a 68-foot birdie putt, Rai executed perfectly, securing a vital stroke that separated him from contenders like Rory McIlroy and Cam Smith. This precision in ball-striking data and scrambling percentage insulated him from the unforced errors that plagued the chasing pack. He managed his distances flawlessly.
The historical weight of this performance stretches back over a century. The focus immediately shifted to his predecessor, “Big” Jim Barnes way back in 1919, when it was still a matchplay event. The last four days – the last four hours – of the wait were the most excruciatingly tense of the lot. It has been a week of high-wire golf at Aronimink, which was set up in such a tough way that on Friday McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, the two best players of their generation, were left complaining about how tricky it was. But like McIlroy said a day later, hard as it was, it made for a “helluva entertaining” day on Sunday.
He had bested the strongest field in golf. He enters the summer schedule as a verified major champion. His long-term season trajectory changes completely.
