NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pennsylvania, May 17 (Reuters) – Down the road from the city that produced one of Hollywood’s ultimate underdog stories, Aaron Rai wrote an equally inspiring script at the PGA Championship on Sunday, delivering the knockout punch to become the first Englishman to win the Wanamaker Trophy since 1919.
Rai came into the week a little-known long shot to win but emerged from a packed leaderboard on one of golf’s biggest stages and was the last man standing at Aronimink Golf Club just outside Philadelphia.
“To be standing here is definitely outside of my wildest imagination,” said Rai, the first player in PGA Championship history to lower his score in each round.
Rai pulled away from the chasing pack with four back-nine birdies, including a 68-footer at the par-three 17th that delivered the knockout blow, en route to a five-under-par 65 that left him at nine under on the week and three shots clear of Jon Rahm (68) and Alex Smalley (70).
When Rai’s final putt dropped there were still two pairings on the course, and while his name was already being engraved on the Wanamaker Trophy he did not break into the type of final-hole celebration typical of a newly-crowned major champion.
With the win, the Wolverhampton-born Rai becomes the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes in 1919.
RAI DRAINS MAMMOTH BIRDIE PUTT
The day began with a tournament-record 22 players within four shots of the lead entering the final round and for much of the day a playoff seemed inevitable.
But Rai, who went out in the third-to-last pairing and two shots behind overnight leader Smalley, had other ideas and kickstarted his day at the par-five ninth with a 40-foot eagle putt.
Two holes later, Rai moved into a share of the lead with Matti Schmid after stuffing his approach shot to four feet for birdie. He had the outright lead shortly after when Schmid, playing in the final pairing, bogeyed the 10th.
Rai, with a slew of players breathing down his neck, then stepped on the gas and became the first player to reach seven under on the week with a sensational up-and-down from a greenside bunker at par-four 13th for a birdie and two-shot lead.
After Schmid got back to within one of Rai, the Englishman countered with a birdie at the par-five 16th to put one hand on the Wanamaker Trophy and sealed the biggest win of his career with his mammoth putt at 17.
“Definitely wasn’t trying to hole that putt,” said Rai. “The shadow of the pin gave a really nice line for probably the last 10 feet. So that definitely helped with the visual of the putts. … amazing to see that one go in.”
THOMAS MAKES EARLY MOVE
The triumph by Rai, which comes a month after Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy retained his Masters title, marks the first time in the era of the four current major championships that the season’s first two majors have been won by Europeans.
LIV Golf’s Rahm (68) could not manage more than one birdie over the back nine while Smalley (70), who started the day with a two-shot lead, eagled the 16th to earn his career-best finish at a major.
“I played really good golf. That’s the only way to look at it,” said Rahm. “Just wish I’d have done better with the speed of the greens.”
Twice champion Justin Thomas, who teed off nearly four hours before the final pairing, started the day six shots off the lead but carded a five-under-par 65 that earned him a three-way share of fourth place with Ludvig Aberg (69) and Schmid (69).
“I fought really hard to shoot the score that I did, and I felt it was the best I could shoot, but I just was — you know, I was upset and bummed I didn’t play better,” said Thomas.
McIlroy (69), who was within two strokes of the leaders early on his back nine before falling back, was a further shot adrift in seventh place with Xander Schauffele (69) and LIV Golf’s Cameron Smith (68).
Defending champion and world number one Scottie Scheffler, who started the day five shots off the pace, closed with a 69 to finish in a share of 14th.
Kurt Kitayama went out with the early starters and fired a sizzling 63 that tied the major championship record for lowest final-round score.
Kitayama is just the second player to shoot a 63 in the final round of a PGA Championship, joining Brad Faxon in 1995, and the ninth overall to do so at one of golf’s four majors.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis, Chris Reese and Peter Rutherford)
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