Aaron Rai, of Indian descent from England, won the PGA Championship minutes ago at Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. He shot a blazing 5-under par 65, tied for the lowest score of the day, to win with a 9-under par total 271 by three strokes over Alex Smalley and John Rahm. But for more than half of the tournament, it looked like at least any of a dozen players could have won this second major championship of the year, with the other majors the U.S. Open and (British) Open remaining on the schedule this year.
A Four-Shot Swing Occurred in Minutes
Rai started the day in second place, two strokes behind Alex Smalley. Justin Thomas sprinted ahead from early in the pack with a 65 to stay the leader in the clubhouse for hours with a 5-under par total 275. Little known Alex Smalley was leading the by one stroke with as many as seven players nipping at his heels only one stroke behind.
Then a dramatic turnaround occurred. Rai eagled the par-five 9th hole and Smalley made a sloppy double bogey on the 6th hole. Rai eventually took the lead and was cruising at the end with his controlled swing that looks like little can go wrong. Then he slammed the door shut on his pursuers when he holed a 68-foot birdie putt on the par-three 17th hole. But Rai never cracked his big smile on that putt, only when he won and his new bride gave him a big kiss.
Aaron had easily parred the last hole to register 6-under par his last ten holes in what must be one of the greatest finishes in the 108-year history of this star-studded championship of the greatest game on grass.
Aaron Rai Is Unique
Aaron Rai is unique in many ways. Perhaps foremost is that he plays golf with two gloves, one on each hand. Both today were black. He says he adopted this habit playing golf as a boy in England to keep his hands warm. Rai also is unique in that he is the first Englishman to win this prestigious tournament since Jim Barnes did way back in 1919. And this major was only 31-year-old Aaron Rai’s second win on the PGA Tour.
Aaron Rai also is unique in that, with his Hindu background, he often mentions how thankful he is for his parents. They emigrated from India to England, where he was born, and they taught him the value of humility, kindness, and thankfulness. That’s something we don’t hear much out of pro athletes, or people in general for that matter.
Aaron Rai therefore seems to be a breath of fresh air in respecting such good human values, especially in America where we are experiencing such political toxicity that results in people speaking so unkindly to each other.
Philadelphia—The City of Brotherly Love
BTW, this is the 250th year of our country that was born in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, where the Continental Congress met then. And just outside Philadelphia is where the PGA Tour Bible Study was born 60 years ago, in August 1965.
Read all about it in my most recent book, Christ on the PGA Tour (1965-1982), available at amazon.com. It is the first book ever written about the beginning of the Christian movement on the PGA Tour. They say now that about one-third of the pros on Tour are professing Christians who, in following Jesus, should be practicing humility, kindness, and thankfulness like Aaron Rai is saying and I think he does.
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