{"id":198815,"date":"2026-05-18T03:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T03:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/18\/two-gloves-one-major-englands-rai-wins-us-pga-title\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T03:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T03:52:09","slug":"two-gloves-one-major-englands-rai-wins-us-pga-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/18\/two-gloves-one-major-englands-rai-wins-us-pga-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Two gloves, one major – England’s Rai wins US PGA title"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

US PGA Championship final round<\/b><\/p>\n

-9 <\/b>A Rai (Eng); -6<\/b> J Rahm (Spa), A Smalley (US); -5<\/b> J Thomas (US), L Aberg (Swe), M Schmid (Ger); -4 <\/b>C Smith (Aus), R McIlroy (NI), X Schauffele (US)<\/p>\n

Selected others: -3<\/b> J Rose (Eng), P Reed (US); -2<\/b> M Fitzpatrick (Eng), S Scheffler (US); -1<\/b> J Spieth (US), P Harrington (Ire); +2 <\/b>M Wallace (Eng), S Lowry (Ire)<\/p>\n

Full leaderboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

England’s Aaron Rai has racked up a whole host of firsts after emerging from a bunched pack to win the US PGA Championship at a testing Aronimink.<\/b><\/p>\n

A first major title of his career. The first Englishman to win the Wanamaker Trophy in over a century. The first non-American to triumph in a decade. And surely the first major champion who wears two gloves while he is playing – a continuation of how he learned the game as a child.<\/p>\n

On a course set-up which has scrambled many minds over the past four days, 31-year-old Rai played with clarity and composure in Sunday’s final round.<\/p>\n

After methodically putting himself into the lead, a moment of magic ensured the Wolverhampton-born Rai will go down in golfing folklore.<\/p>\n

Expertly draining a 69-foot putt on the 17th green – the second longest of the whole week – all but clinched victory. <\/p>\n

It helped Rai, who had never previously finished in the top-10 at a major, card a magnificent five-under 65 to finish nine under overall.<\/p>\n

That was enough to end three shots clear of Spain’s two-time major champion Jon Rahm and unheralded American Alex Smalley – the overnight leader – who finished joint second.<\/p>\n

“It is very surreal,” said Rai, who has struggled to practice at times this year because of a neck injury.<\/p>\n

“It has been a frustrating season so being stood here is outside of my wildest imagination.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Behind Rahm and Smalley, there was a three-way tie on five under between American two-time champion Justin Thomas, Swedish Ryder Cup star Ludvig Aberg and little-known German Matthias Schmid.<\/p>\n

Former world number one Thomas had posted the early target after a five-under 65, then sat back in the clubhouse to watch and wait patiently – while hoping for a “little bit of help” to win.<\/p>\n

The wind did not whip up as Thomas hoped. Yet, with the severely-sloped greens playing firm in the Pennsylvanian sun, and the thick rough continuing to be penal, scoring opportunities remained at a premium.<\/p>\n

For almost everyone other than Rai. <\/p>\n

All week long it felt like a strategic thinker would be the one to prevail and Rai, known on tour for his diligence, carefully plotted his way to victory.<\/p>\n

Keeping his ball on the fairway from the tee proved to be an effective tactic – he was joint second best on Sunday and fourth for the week – which others did not find as simple.<\/p>\n

Once Rai moved clear of the pack on seven under – thanks to birdies on the 11th and 13th – it looked like a score which would not be caught.<\/p>\n

In what was now by far the biggest moment of his career, an emotionless Rai stayed in the zone. The experience of beating a strong field at the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi Championship in November was perhaps something he was able to draw on.<\/p>\n

Another tap-in birdie on the par-five 16th put more daylight between him and the pack, before a putt from the other end of the measuring stick put victory within touching distance.<\/p>\n

Rai somehow negotiated an impossible-looking putt to move three shots clear of his rivals. Only then did he show a flicker of emotion. <\/p>\n

But the gentle fist pump as the fans around him went wild was telling and perfectly encapsulated how Rai has become a major champion – by keeping calm in the eye of the storm.<\/p>\n

“I definitely wasn’t trying to hole that putt,” Rai smiled as he clutched the Wanamaker Trophy. <\/p>\n

“The shadow of the pin gave a really nice line for the last 10 feet so that helped with the visual.<\/p>\n

“It just tracked really well – it was amazing to see it go in.”<\/p>\n

Rai is just the eighth Englishman to win a major since World War II, joining Henry Cotton, Max Faulkner, Tony Jacklin, Nick Faldo, Justin Rose, Danny Willett and Matt Fitzpatrick.<\/p>\n

It also means UK golfers have won the first two of the year’s four annual majors for the first time, after Rory McIlroy defended his Masters title in April.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Rai stood tall and kept mistakes off his card while the more illustrious names around him fell short.<\/p>\n

Bidding to add a third US PGA title to his successful Masters defence last month, Rory McIlroy closed with a one-under 69 to finish five shots back. <\/p>\n

McIlroy started the day three back of Smalley and birdied the second hole, but his frustration grew during a run of 10 pars before his hopes were virtually extinguished with a bogey at the driveable par-four 13th.<\/p>\n

Errant off the tee – hitting just four out of 14 fairways – the six-time major winner also failed to birdie either par five on Sunday and finished level par on the longer holes for the championship. <\/p>\n

“I’m proud that I gave myself a chance,” the world number two told BBC Sport NI. <\/p>\n

“But there are three holes I’ll rue. Not birdieing the two par fives and then making bogey at the driveable par-four. Those three holes cost me a chance to win.”<\/p>\n

Rahm birdied the first two holes to quickly reach six under and a share of the lead before dropping shots at the third and seventh holes. And while the Spaniard picked up birdies at the two par-fives to finish in a tie for second, he could not match the blistering pace set by Rai. <\/p>\n

Rahm and McIlroy’s Ryder Cup team-mates Ludvig Aberg and Justin Rose were also unable to make a run at it.<\/p>\n

Swede Aberg threatened to challenge but three bogeys in four holes around the turn derailed his challenge before two birdies in his final three holes lifted him into a share of fourth on five under, while Englishman Rose finished with nine straight pars to close on three under and in a tie for 10th. <\/p>\n

And there was to be no charge from world number one Scottie Scheffler. The defending champion began the round five back, but his putting woes continued – he missed 13 putts inside of 10 feet throughout the week – as he finished seven back in a tie for 14th.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US PGA Championship final round -9 A Rai (Eng); -6 J Rahm (Spa), A Smalley (US); -5 J Thomas (US), L Aberg (Swe), M Schmid (Ger); -4 C Smith (Aus), R McIlroy (NI), X Schauffele (US) Selected others: -3 J Rose (Eng), P Reed (US); -2 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), S Scheffler (US); -1 J Spieth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-198815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTwo gloves, one major - England's Rai wins US PGA title - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/18\/two-gloves-one-major-englands-rai-wins-us-pga-title\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two gloves, one major - England's Rai wins US PGA title\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US PGA Championship final round -9 A Rai (Eng); 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