Aaron Rai’s first love was Formula One; he dreamed of being a driver. His father, a tennis player who couldn’t fulfil his dream of turning professional, introduced young Aaron to a racquet.

But the youngster’s tennis stroke looked more like a golf swing, so dad bought him plastic clubs. Formula One and tennis’ loss was golf’s gain, for the boy immediately took to the sport.

Last man standing

And last weekend, Rai scripted one of the great underdog stories at Aronimink Golf Club — down the road from Philadelphia, which produced one of Hollywood’s ultimate underdog stories: Rocky. The 31-year-old entered the PGA Championship a little-known long shot, but emerged from a packed leaderboard as the last man standing.

Having never finished better than 19th in 12 prior Major starts, Rai, with one PGA Tour title and three on the European tour, closed out the PGA Championship with nerves of steel.

He was among 22 players separated by four shots going into the final round, a logjam the likes of which the PGA Championship had never seen. He was just another name on the leaderboard midway through the final round, three shots behind and coming off two bogeys in three holes.

What followed was the stuff of Major champions — seven consecutive one-putt greens, including a 40-foot eagle on the par-5 ninth that turned his fortunes around. 

Rai took the lead for good on the 13th, pouring it on with a 70-foot birdie putt across the 17th green. He was 6 under over the last 10 holes — cold-blooded birdies where others were struggling on the course’s wildly contoured greens and tough pins. The last time anyone did better to win a Major was the great Jack Nicklaus in the 1986 Masters.

Breaking through at a Major is hard enough. Having to beat the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Smith, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas to do so is immeasurably harder. It requires top-drawer skill and a refusal to give up. And where Rahm couldn’t make enough putts for birdie and McIlroy couldn’t handle the par-5s, Rai found his best golf.

While there are more explosive golfers, Rai is considered one of the tour’s more reliable ball-strikers. His precision, positioning and disciplined iron play work well on challenging courses — Aronimink is one of those. And his ability to stay cool under pressure helps in big moments. 

Rai’s attitude and temperament can be traced back to his early days. Growing up in Central England, the son of a father of Indian ancestry and a mother with Kenyan heritage, Rai learnt that hard work and humility were non-negotiable. “A lot has come from upbringing,” he said. 

“My dad instilled the importance of work and dedication. My mom worked extremely hard away from golf. She worked a couple of jobs at one time and did a lot of work around the house.

“There was a lot of consistent messaging of hard work. Golf is an extremely humbling game. There’s so much hard work and discipline that goes into acquiring the skills to become better.”

Where he came from

Rai wears two gloves, a rarity in the sport, because that’s what he did as a kid to fight off the cold English winter. Another reminder of his roots are the protective covers for his irons, not common among pros. He once said his father made many sacrifices to procure the nicest golf clubs and then would clean the grooves with baby oil after his son was done playing. Rai has left the iron covers on since then “to remember where I came from and to respect what I have.”

One of the coaches at the course where Rai practised as a child told his father to “put Aaron in different situations and let him figure it out” — a guiding philosophy that has paid rich dividends.

“I didn’t really mix with a lot of other junior golfers, which didn’t give me a perspective of what was normal,” Rai said. “So, I think my dad kind of sheltered me to be able to develop in a way that made sense for me, in a way that I guess was a little bit unique.”

Rai’s multicultural family is a source of strength and pride. “I’m very proud to be from England. That’s where I grew up,” he said. “I’m very proud of India and Kenya as well. Both sets of grandparents from my mom and dad’s side were from India. I don’t know what all that represents. All I can say is I’m very proud to be a mix of all of them.”

Another source of support for Rai is wife Gaurika Bishnoi, a top pro golfer from India with eight titles. “I wouldn’t be here without her, both as a companion, as a friend, as someone I’m sharing my life with, but also as a real support system for my game,” he said. “Her mindset, her advice, whether it’s technique or the way I’m holding myself, is absolutely invaluable.”

And when it comes to golf bragging rights, Rai admitted, “We practise quite a lot together. Honestly she beats me more times than I beat her.”

When Gaurika first met Rai, she was struck by his authenticity. “He said, ‘Sometimes I feel that things around me are going to change too much if I do something too crazy,’” Gaurika told Golf Channel. Ahead of the final day at the PGA Championship, she had to reassure Rai that nothing would change if he won “because I’m not someone who would change myself”. “We’re going to lead our lives the same way, and that’s a choice we’re going to consciously make,” she told him.

What will change are the opportunities. Rai is now a Major winner, which gives him a life exemption into the PGA and five-year exemptions into the other three Majors, and secures his status on the PGA Tour for five years. He also vaulted 29 spots to a career-high No. 15. 

Universally loved

Such success often breeds envy in rivals, but it’s a measure of how well regarded he is on tour that even his opponents are delighted for him. “You won’t find one person on property who’s not happy for him,” McIlroy said. Schauffele called him an “all-world gentleman, no doubt”. 

But it’s what Schauffele said about Rai’s work ethic that perhaps best captures the Englishman’s defining quality. He referred to a late summer night in Scotland when he and his caddie went out for a putting contest. There was Rai at 9 p.m., and when he finished, he was off to the gym.

“Rarely do you feel like people work way harder than you,” said Schauffele, who has won two Major titles and an Olympic gold medal. “That’s what it’s about to be a Major champion. You put the work in when nobody’s looking. Super pumped for Aaron.”