Aaron Rai: The two gloved golfer who ended England’s 107-year PGA Championship curse

Dubai: Aaron Rai ended a 107-year wait for English winners at the USPGA Championship with an outstanding final round performance at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania.

The 31-year-old secured a one-stroke win over another relatively unknown player, Matti Schmid, becoming just the second Englishman ever to claim this Major title. It also marked the first time an English player had won it since Jim Barnes successfully defended the championship in 1919.

The golfer from Wolverhampton had previously never finished higher than a three-way tie for 19th place in a Major championship.

You wouldn’t have guessed it from this performance, though, as he delivered a remarkably calm round featuring an eagle and six birdies.

Who is Aaron Rai?

Aaron Rai has built a reputation for being one of the more understated but technically consistent players on tour.

Born in Wolverhampton, he developed his game through the English junior circuit before progressing into professional golf, where he steadily worked his way up through developmental tours and into top-tier international competition.

Rai has long been known for two distinctive habits that set him apart from other professionals. One is his unusual practice of wearing two golf gloves, a routine he picked up as a child while training in freezing conditions in the UK.

The other is his continued use of iron covers, which he maintains as a sign of respect for his Indian father, who would carefully clean and look after his clubs after every junior tournament. These details have become part of his identity in the game, reflecting both his upbringing and his disciplined approach to golf.

His breakthrough on the major championship stage is expected to push him into golf’s elite tier, bringing far greater attention and recognition to his career moving forward.

Before this moment, Rai had already proven himself at the highest level, including a win on the PGA Tour and victories in major DP World Tour events such as the Scottish Open and the Abu Dhabi Championship.

However, he has often said that his most meaningful victory came earlier in his career on the Challenge Tour at the 2017 Kenya Open.

That win stood out because his mother, Dalvir, who was born in Kenya, returned there for the first time since childhood to watch him compete, and was there to greet him on the 18th green after his victory, making it a deeply personal milestone in his journey.

Even with how meaningful that win in Kenya was, his PGA Championship triumph will surely overtake it as his most cherished achievement.

What went wrong for the rest of the field?

The world No. 44 was not an obvious candidate to end England’s long-standing drought, especially given that the country already has three players inside the world’s top 10, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, and Justin Rose, with another established Ryder Cup regular in Tyrrell Hatton also among its leading names.

Their expected success along with the likes of Rory McIlroy never really materialised, leaving the stage clear for Rai to seize his chance.

The two-time Masters champion, pushed hard in an attempt to catch Rai but was let down by inaccurate driving that ultimately cost him.

Rai produced a superb approach shot on the difficult 11th hole, settling the ball just four feet from the pin to move level with Matti Schmid at six under par.

Soon after, when Schmid bogeyed the 10th, Rai moved into sole possession of the lead, a position he appeared firmly in control of for the rest of the round, never really seeming likely to give it up.