Aaron Rai grabs 1st major at PGA Championship with Sunday 65

The PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club featured a bunched leaderboard, whipping winds, and an unforeseen champion. Aaron Rai has his first major championship, taking home the PGA Championship. He beat the field with an incredible 65 on Sunday.

Aaron Rai is your 2026 PGA Champion #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/8LA8qbV2OO

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 17, 2026

Rai was a part of the pack at 4-under coming into the day, two shots off the lead. He stuck with the group until the ninth, when he made an incredible eagle. A heroic bunker shot on 13 and a birdie on 16 put him two shots ahead of the field. Leading by two with two to play, Rai jarred a 68-foot putt on 17 to go up by three. That was the final nail in the coffin, giving Rai his first major win.

WHAT. A. PUTT!

UNBELIEVABLE FROM AARON RAI! pic.twitter.com/JxGSchnie1

— Golf on CBS (@GolfonCBS) May 17, 2026

Rai’s lone win on the PGA Tour is the 2024 Wyndham Championship, but he does have three DP World Tour wins. According to Justin Ray of TwentyFirst Group, Rai is the first English player to win the PGA Championship since 1919. He is the first non-American to win since Jason Day in 2015 and the first European since Rory McIlroy in 2014.

The day began with Alex Smalley in the lead by two shots over a horde of players. But Smalley, who had never finished better than T23 in a major championship, wilted under the brightest lights. A double bogey on the sixth hole and a bogey on eight ended his chances.

Alongside Smalley in the final group was German Matti Schmid in his first PGA Championship. He had never finished better than 59th in a major, but he does have two European Amateur wins. Schmid spent most of the day one back of the lead, never grabbing a solo lead. While he fell short at Aronimink, the 28-year-old made himself a name to remember moving forward.

A wild PGA Championship closes the first half of major season

Much of the conversation about the PGA Championship centered around course setup. Many believed that the pros would rip Aronimink to shreds due to its relatively short nature. Instead, the wind whipped through the Philadelphia suburbs and made the first two days nearly impossible. With birdies hard to come by, but double bogeys mostly out of the conversation due to the length, the leaderboard was bunched.

The condensed nature of the leaderboard made this one that got away from many of the game’s top players. Rory McIlroy started with a round of four-over on Thursday, battling back to finish XX. A chance to start the calendar Grand Slam slipped past the Masters champion, as he could not get a birdie putt to fall early on Sunday and ended the day with just four fairways hit.

Scottie Scheffler came into the PGA Championship as the defending champion after last year’s triumph at Quail Hollow. He shot one-over 71 on both Friday and Saturday, with two back-nine bogeys ruining his chances on Sunday. He finished two-under on the week, tied for 11th. The U.S. Open in June will be his first try at the career Grand Slam.

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