Aaron Rai, English triumph at PGA Championship after 107 years
At just turned 31, Aaron Rai signs the most important moment of his career. The Englishman from Wombourne (a small town of about 15,000 inhabitants) wins the PGA Championship 2026 at Aronimink Golf Club thanks to an extraordinary tournament finish. With this success he breaks a U.S. dominance that had lasted since 2016 and puts England back on the tournament’s roof after more than a century: the last Briton to win had been Jim Barnes in 1916 and 1919, at a time when the PGA Championship was still played under the match play formula, which remained in force until 1957.
Rai thus succeeds where many great countrymen had failed, from Nick Faldo to Lee Westwood, via Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick. After a rather uncertain first half of the last round, the turning point came on hole 9 with an eagle that completely changed the inertia of the day. From there on, the Englishman accelerated for good with birdies at 11, 13, 16 and 17, closing the final round in 65 strokes (-5) and the tournament at -9 overall, with scores of 70-69-67-65.
Behind him finished in second place with Jon Rahm. The Spaniard gets his best result in a Major since his landing at LIV Golf, finishing at -6 along with Alex Smalley, leader after the third round but unable to replicate the onslaught of a Rai in a state of grace. Justin Thomas, author of a resounding comeback, was also a major player. The American, winner in 2022, finished fourth at -5 along with Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg and Germany’s Matti Schmid, climbing as many as 27 places in the last round.
Seventh place instead for Rory McIlroy, who finished at -4 along with Xander Schauffele and Australia’s Cameron Smith. In 10th place is Justin Rose along with Americans Patrick Reed, Chris Gotterup and Kurt Kitayama. It was Kitayama himself who came out on top with a spectacular -7 on the day, allowing him to recover an impressive 54 positions in the rankings. Finally, world number 1 Scottie Scheffler closes 14th: his final -3 does not, however, prevent him from firmly retaining the OWGR leadership, with almost twice as many points as McIlroy.
