Golf

2024 PGA Tour: Aaron Rai’s Wyndham Championship Victory a Masterclass in Humility

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Aug 14, 2024 / 8085 Views

Evan Walker

Sunday of the 2024 Wyndham Championship was quite like the run that Aaron Rai has had on the PGA Tour. Since he joined the Tour in 2022, the 29-year-old Englishman has been persevering in the quest for that breakthrough moment. It arrived on August 11, but not before Rai had dealt with his share of challenges. Coping with the mind and tough conditions at the Sedgefield Country Club in the midst of a tropical storm, Rai almost did not make it this time too.

With rounds spilling over to the next day, and players completing 36 holes on Sunday — the tournament yet to finish with Matt Kuchar walking away on the 18th hole — Rai had to dig deep to prove that he was no longer ready to accept the tag of ‘nearly man’ once more.

Coming into the final event of the PGA Tour’s 2024 Regular Season, his career stats in 88 starts comprised 1 runner-up, 1 third place, 5 top-5s and 10 top-10s. The closest he came to a win was the T2 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic this June. But that week instilled belief, and what followed was a string of solid results in the subsequent weeks. From such finishes dotting his season’s card here and there, the consistency coming into this week was definitely a good omen — and finally saw Aaron Rai coming up tops at the 2024 Wyndham Championship and clinching his maiden PGA title.

2024 PGA Tour: Aaron Rai prevails at Wyndham Championship

The winner’s box was waiting to be ticked, but the odds were high on the Golf course, and in the betting books. Climbing the few spots in quest of the summit, he was up against overnight leader Max Greyserman, who had a career-low 10-under 60 on Day 2, and hadn’t let go of the momentum since then.

Rai found his props in playing solid Golf without throwing a glance at the leaderboard. He rested his case with a bogey-free 6-under 64, finishing with a birdie which proved critical in deciding the outcome.

Rai finished with a one-shot lead, and with the satisfaction that he had done his bit. “I didn’t really look [at the leaderboard] and didn’t ask to know that information [being four back with four holes to go]. I think that was probably a good thing, that helped me just to focus on the Golf. I was playing well and I knew that if I finished off well, then you never know what can happen.”

That’s what happened as the prospect of a breakthrough in his rookie season probably overwhelmed Greyserman. Almost faultless and riding the momentum of two eagles, the quadruple on the 14th and double on the 16th led to a severe loss of momentum.

Needing to birdie the final two holes to force a playoff, Greyserman came short. Rai’s approach paid off, and the two-shot win with an 18-under 262 added one more layer of consistency going forward.

His growth as a player — the five wins on the DP World Tour and the latest high in the US now, has followed the similar pattern of quiet yet definitive steps with the team.

“I recently started to work with [coach] John Graham and he’s helped me massively. My dad’s helped me a lot with just visualising the putts a little bit better. That really helped over the last few weeks. I think my short Game and bunker play have improved,” said Rai.

As one accustomed to the grind, Rai is aware of the world of opportunities that will open up, but he refused to be swayed. The FedExCup Playoffs commence this week with the FedEx St Jude Championship, and though Rai sits comfortably in the rankings at No 25, the uncertainties of golf are not lost on him.

“To make that jump is a great achievement, but a lot can change over the next three weeks for the better, and also for the worst, so there’s still a long way to go with the FedExCup Playoffs and where we finish at the end of the year.”

Solid bearings

Calm and collected, Rai’s words and conduct on the golf course are a reflection of his upbringing. Featuring in the later groups of late due to the upward trend of his on-course stats, Rai has featured in leader groups or near about in the recent past.

Watching and realising what it takes to win on the PGA Tour, Rai is appreciative of his peers. He made an impression by being among the first to greet champion Cam Davis at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and Robert MacIntyre on his home turf win at the Genesis Scottish Open.

“I’ll always congratulate the winner. It’s an amazing achievement and everyone has such a special journey to be playing on the PGA Tour. When it culminates in a victory, it’s incredibly special,” he said.

Rai attributed the trait to his upbringing. “My mum and dad have played a huge role in everything that I’ve done. Faith, meditation, staying grounded and grateful are values that they’ve instilled in me since a really young age. Yeah, I guess I try and be that way now.”

Bitter pill to swallow

Max Greyserman’s time will come, and soon. For most of Sunday he was in command till the bad tee shot on the 14th had a cascading effect. The round was a muddle but the clarity of thought came through as he put the closing stretch into perspective.

“You’re going to hit bad tee shots over the course of 72 holes. If that does not hit the cart path, we’re probably in a different situation. That doesn’t mean that that one bounce is the reason that I didn’t win, but what happened after,” he said with reference to the double bogey on the 16th, which effectively put him out of contention.

After the 3M Open, he had finished second best in consecutive starts. Rather than despair, the 29-year-old sought solace from the takeaways. “Played good enough to kind of run away with it. Obviously, stuff happens in Golf that sometimes it’s not meant to be. I’m going to walk away that I played really, really good Golf, executed really well, had four-shot lead. If you’re doing that in a PGA Tour event, you’re doing something exceptionally well.”

Whirlwind stretch

Luke Clanton is yet to turn pro, but if the six starts on Tour are an indication, the 20-year-old is a name for the future.

In his first start in a regular event, he posted a T10 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and followed with a T2 at the John Deere Classic. With 39 holes to play on Sunday, it was on Clanton to make the starts count.

If it was a manic final day for the others, Clanton was under a lot more pressure. With three holes left in his second round, a major dilemma played in the background.

Despite shooting 68, he was unsure of making cut till he signed for a 67 and 62 to make it by one. This also settled the debate on leaving site early versus heading to Minnesota and prepare for the US Amateur.

With a final round 69, Clanton finished T5, weathering the pressure like a seasoned hand. The experience will come in handy as he aims for top honours at the US Amateur.

“I put myself in contention again. And being able to say that I was kind of close to the lead coming down the stretch is awesome. It’s a lot of learning for me and again, as a 20-year-old, it’s pretty sweet,” said Clanton.

Unique situation

The Wyndham Championship crowned Aaron Rai its 2024 champion, but the USD 7.9 million event wasn’t officially over until Monday, August 14.

Matt Kuchar had entered the week as the only player to qualify for the Playoffs in each season since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007, and a win at this tournament would have ensured that.

The Wyndham Championship was completed at 8:06 a.m. Matt Kuchar makes par at No. 18 and finishes T12.

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) August 12, 2024

That did not happen, though. He was on the 18th fairway when the light faded, and he told the referee that he wanted to return the next day to finish. Opening with consecutive 64s, Kuchar was initially the outright leader, but had slipped with a 70 in the third round and the trend continued. He returned alone on Monday to complete his round.

(Main/ featured images: PGA Tour/ Instagram)