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Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America via Getty Images
Aaron Rai can now call himself a major champion after his impressive victory at the PGA Championship on Sunday.
Rai was in imperious form at Aronimink, especially during the final 10-hole stretch that he played in six-under par.
The 31-year-old Englishman was a real outsider to win the PGA Championship last week, and his win was so refreshing to see given the fact that he is a fairly short hitter.
Aaron Rai’s win at the PGA Championship proved there is still room in the game for old school, strategic thinking.
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Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
The PGA of America absolutely nailed the setup at Aronimink and the Englishman’s game was perfectly suited to the test.
Rai received huge compliments from his peers after his PGA Championship win, and rightly so.
He is clearly a great golfer but perhaps an even better person.
Aaron Rai on how American fans treated him at Aronimink during the PGA
The man from Wolverhampton in England addressed the media after shooting a final-round 65.
Rai responded when asked by reporters how he was treated by the fans at Aronimink throughout the week.
“It was amazing,” the Englishman admitted.
“From the very start of the week, from the Monday, which was the practice round for us, it felt like a tournament round. The fans were incredible from the very start of the week, and that just continued as the tournament went on.
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Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
“It definitely got quite loud out there today, and something that I mentioned earlier as well, I’m very much a foreign player playing here in America, but their support for me was incredible.
“So, yeah, the fans were absolutely brilliant this week.“
That is great to hear from Rai.
It turns out that he is an Eagles fan as well, so that may explain why he received so much support throughout the week in Philadelphia.
Aaron Rai on becoming the first Englishman to win the PGA since 1919
After his victory, Rai was asked whether he knew he had become the first man from England to win the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes triumphed at the Engineers Country Club in 1919.
“I wasn’t actually aware of it until yesterday,” Rai admitted.
“I think in this room yesterday it was mentioned, which was the first of my knowledge.
“But yeah, extremely, extremely proud. There’s a lot of incredible and historic English players over those hundred years who have gone on to achieve incredible things and had phenomenal careers.
“But to win this event and then to be the person that’s the first one to have won it in a long time from England is an amazing thing and something to be extremely proud of.“
Aaron Rai’s win at Aronimink was impressive in its own right.
But for him to become the first Englishman to win the Wanamaker Trophy for 107 years was a truly phenomenal achievement.
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