He may not have been the most familiar player to tee up at the just completed US PGA Championship, but he’ll be well known now. Aaron Rai shot a sensational 5 under final round 65 to overtake a star studded field at the Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania to snare his first major and the 108th Wanamaker Trophy. He finished on 9 under (271).
His great run started with an eagle at the par-5 ninth and four birdies on 11, 13, 16, 17. His 25 meter putt on seventeen needed to be seen to be believed!
Rai earns his first major championship title in his 13th major start at the age of 31 years of age

Final Leaderboard

Rai’s best finish in a major prior to the week was T19 (three times: 2021 Open Championship, 2024 U.S. Open, 2025 PGA Championship). In winning, he beame the sixth PGA Champion to card a 65 or better in the final round and the second in the last three years (Xander Schauffele, 65/2024)

His driving accuracy for the week was 67.86% (38 of 56) - fourth best by any player in the field

He was also the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes won in 1916 and 1919, and becomes the just the eighth Englishman to win a major championship since 1940

Outright 54-hole leader Alex Smalley (T2/-6) recorded a final-round 68, carding 34s on each nine. A little wobbly early, he played his final three holes eagle-bogey-birdie (Nos. 16-18) to record his best finish in a major.

Former Word #1 and LIV golfer Jon Rahm (T2/-6) claimed his 15th top-10 finish and second runner-up in 38 major starts (T2/2023 Open Championship).

Justin Thomas (T4/-5) tied his best score in 40 career rounds in the PGA Championship with a 5-under 65. Ludvig Åberg (T4/-5) claims his third top-10 finish in 10 career major starts (2nd/2024 Masters Tournament, 7th/2025 Masters Tournament). He led led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (11.308) but ranked 64th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-0.828). Surely a major isn’t too far away.

In his PGA Championship debut, Matti Schmid (T4/-5) records his best finish in five major starts (previous best: T59, 2021 Open Championship). He led all players in Strokes Gained: Putting (7.787) and it was his best finish on TOUR since runner-up at the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge

The Aussies

Australian Cameron Smith (T7/-4) snapped a streak of six consecutive missed cuts in majors to record his 10th top-10 finish in his 39th major start and his first top-10 in a major since the 2024 Masters Tournament (T6).

After being right in the hunt going into the final round, Min Woo Lee carded a final round 71 to drop back to a still very credible T18 (-7). Other Aussie results included Jason Day T65 (+6) and Elvis Smylie T75 (+8). Travis Smyth and Adam Scott missed the cut

Six-time major champion and 30-time PGA TOUR winner Rory McIlroy (T7/-4) finished inside the top 10 for the 12th time in the last 18 major championships, dating back to the beginning of the 2022 season. In his career, he owns 35 top-10 finishes in 69 starts in majors

2024 Championship winner Xander Schauffele (T7/-4) recorded his eighth top-10 finish in the last 10 major championships (since the start of 2024), tied with Scottie Scheffler for the most by any player in that span.

Kurt Kitayama (T10/-3) carded the low round of the week with a bogey-free 63, his best score in 58 career major rounds (previous: 65, 2023 PGA Championship/R4). He hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation and recorded 141' 5" of putts made, including five made putts of 12+ feet. This marks the ninth time in history that a player has a 63 in the final round of a major championship (first since Tommy Fleetwood/2023 U.S. Open) and second such instance in PGA Championship history (1995/Brad Faxon)

Chris Gotterup (T10/-3) recorded his second-best finish in six major starts and his fourth consecutive top-25 (T24/2026 Masters Tournament, 3rd/2025 Open Championship, T23/2025 U.S. Open)

Justin Rose (T10/-3) records his 25th top-10 finish in 87 career major starts.

FULL LEADERBOARD

Image - DP World Tour website