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Aaron Rai is the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since 1919.

Aaron Rai went 6-under in his final 10 holes at Aronimink Golf Club to take down the best players in the world and win the 2026 PGA Championship. The Wolverhampton native has now established himself as one of the best English golfers in the world, but he never would’ve picked up a club in the first place if not for a fortunate accident.

When Rai was a toddler, he hurt himself while playing with his brother’s hockey sticks, causing a large bruise on his head. His mother, Dalvir, an immigrant from Kenya, wanted to make playtime a little safer, so she went out to purchase plastic hockey sticks to replace the real ones. But she didn’t come home with hockey sticks at all. Instead, she returned with plastic golf clubs.

And just like that, a star was born.

Aaron Rai Became a Star Junior Golfer by Accident

Golf had never been a staple in the Rai household before Dalvir bought those plastic clubs. Tennis and hockey were much more popular within the family, but Rai’s parents quickly realized he was destined for greatness in a different sport.

During a tennis practice, Rai’s father, Amrik, noticed his tennis swing looked more like a golf swing, so they pivoted. It didn’t take Rai long to get the hang of the sport. He won a 12-and-under tournament when he was just five years old, proving early on that golf could be more than a hobby.

So, Amrik quit his job and started investing his time and energy in his son’s golf career. While Amrik took Aaron to the golf course to practice every day, Dalvir worked multiple jobs to support the family.

Rai began to dominate the junior golf scene in England, consistently beating golfers well older than him. When he was just 15 years old, Rai broke the “Lee Westwood World Puttmaster Record” by holing 207 consecutive 10-foot putts. He turned pro two years later and grinded on European tours for nearly a decade before qualifying for the PGA Tour for the first time in 2022.

Four years later, he became the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes in 1919.

Rai Credits His Success to His Supportive Family

Even though Rai fell into his golf journey by accident, his family sacrificed everything to give him the best chance to succeed. He wouldn’t be a PGA Championship winner and a multi-million-dollar athlete without the support he received from his hard-working parents and siblings. That work ethic drives Rai to be the best golfer and person he can be.

“I think a lot of that was from my upbringing,” Rai told reporters on Sunday at Aronimink. “My dad was with me, as I said, every day practice-wise, and he really instilled the importance of work and dedication and trying to consistently build just good, strong habits around the game. My mom worked extremely hard away from golf. Her jobs, she worked a couple of jobs at one time, at a point in time, and she did a lot of work around the house. My sister took a massive role as well at a young age. She had a job from the age of 14, 15. So there was a lot of consistent messaging of hard work, and that was generally the environment that was there at the house. And that was at the golf course as well.

“So I think it’s been something I’ve just grown up with, and I guess as I’ve got older, something that I’ve really valued and tried to continue to move forward with.”

Rai has etched his name in the golf history books forever, but that never would’ve been possible had his mother brought home hockey sticks on that fateful day.