Aaron Rai’s stunning PGA Championship win was a father-son affair
Aaron Rai’s long, winding journey to his PGA Championship win at Aronimink began, as many unexpected stories do, with his parents and sacrifices.
Rai’s parents immigrated to England from India and Kenya. His father, Amrik, was a novice tennis player who gave up his dream of playing professional tennis to put golf clubs in Aaron’s hands at the age of four. Rai’s mother, Dalvir, worked multiple jobs to help the family pay for membership and tournament fees.
Amrik knew very little about golf but saw his son’s natural swing, set out to teach himself the mechanics of the game, and created an environment where Rai could grow at his own pace. At the age of 7, Rai was given a set of Titleist 690 MB irons by his father. Amrik cleaned those irons with a pin and baby oil to prevent rust. When they were no longer in use, they were protected by metal covers, which Rai still uses to this day as a way to show off his growth. Rai practiced a lot with his father growing up. He played a custom-made course with his father that grew taller as he did. He didn’t play with girls until he was 12 years old. He and his father were on to something. That environment that Amrik created allowed Aaron Rai to be free to be Aaron Rai, playing the way he played and doing things his way, believing that they would lead him where he wanted to go.
“I think my dad played a really big role in that. For the most part, it was just the two of us that used to get on the golf course and practice together, maybe until I was 13 or 14,” Rai said after winning the PGA. “So I think he was a great advocate to just stay on your path, focus on the things you can do. And I didn’t meet many other young golfers, who didn’t give me an idea of what was normal. So I think he protected me so that I could develop in a way that made sense to me, in a unique way, I guess, with a two iron.
“I think by the time he maybe allowed me to play club golf, play professional golf, I felt like I was strong enough why I did certain things so I could keep going forward. I knew the reasons why I was doing them. I believed in the reasons why I was doing them.”
Rai’s PGA Championship win resonated because he was different. In the sheltered world of privilege, Aaron Rai climbed the golf ladder with humility, kindness, and grace. As the players left Aronimink after Rai blew them off, they were all happy that Rai had done them right – that one of the best people on the PGA Tour now has a career award.
“You can’t find one person in the area that you’re not happy with,” Rory McIlroy said.
What has endeared Aaron Rai to his peers, those working on the PGA Tour and now golf fans in general, was instilled in him by his parents at a very young age. Golf’s humility underscored what Rai has long believed: That being a good person is more important than putting the ball in the cup.
“I think a lot of that comes from upbringing, my mother, my father, my siblings,” said Rai. “Golf is a very humbling game. There is hard work and discipline that goes into getting better, but you also realize that nothing is given in this game at any time, whether it’s a tournament, or a practice round, or even away from the week of the tournament. All of these things have to be done with determination and focus.
“It’s very humble as well. So I think it’s a combination of all that, the game needs focus and attention, but humility goes with the game and with my growth.”
Rai’s road to becoming one of the biggest multi-winners in recent memory began with his working-class parents in Wolverhampton. His father walked many miles of that trip aside, believing that a moment like the one outside Philadelphia would come.
But as it turned out, his father missed his chance to win. Amrik likes to travel to the UK in his camp and falls asleep before Rai finishes his escape from the best players in the world.
“He was actually sleeping,” Rai said on “5 Clubs.” “He has a van and he likes to travel around the UK in his van. And, with the time difference there, he actually fell asleep for the last hour, hour and a half of that round. So when I got back to the lodge after I finished, I tried to call him. But it didn’t go through, and I saw that he was asleep.
“I just left him a voicemail to say thank you more than anything else.”
As Aaron Rai reveled in his major championship victory, he was asked to reflect on the sacrifices his parents made to get him to that point, and on the upbringing that helped shape a different kind of superhero.
He began to get frustrated when he thought about how his parents had raised him on their shoulders, as all good parents do with their children.
“Maybe it’s difficult for me to express everything I feel to them. I think I will be too bitter to speak,” said Rai. “From my dad, he was with me every day to practice since I was 4, 5 years old. He really gave up work and started focusing on my golf since I was very young. I learned a lot about golf. He was obviously very active in everything he did with me during the game. My mom has always been amazing, and she doesn’t work too many hours at home.
“Obviously I’d like to share this with them. It would be amazing if they were there. I can’t put into words how much they’ve done in terms of support, in terms of care, in terms of love. Again, I wouldn’t be here without them at all.”
Later in the evening, with his warrior duties complete, Rai tried his father again. This time, he answered.
