Aaron Rai opens up on going from Wee Wonder to major champion

The Wolverhampton man is coming to terms with being an overnight global sensation after becoming the first English player in more than a century to win the PGA Championship in the 108th edition at Aronimink in Pennsylvania.

The victory lifted Rai from 44th to 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking, with the 31-year-old now looking a strong contender for a Ryder Cup debut in next year’s centenary edition at Adare Manor in Ireland.

Rai, who landed his first professional win on Scottish soil in a third-tier event at Mar Hall before adding the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in 2020, is a product of Wee Wonders.

It was launched in 1995 by Alasdair Good, the head professional at Gullane, with Rai following in Matt Fitzpatrick’s footsteps by using the initiative to cut some competitive teeth in golf before going on to become a major winner.

Other players to come through the Wee Wonders include Ryder Cup players Tommy Fleetwood and Bob MacIntyre, as well as Solheim Cup star Leona Maguire.

Speaking in his winner’s press conference as the new PGA champion, Rai talked about Wee Wonders and how his dad, Amrik, had used it to help him stay on a personal path as his game developed as a youngster.

“So I used to play in a tournament called the Wee Wonders, which had a local stage, a regional stage, and a national stage,” he said after producing a brilliant back nine to hold off the likes of Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy to get his hands on the gigantic Wanamaker Trophy.

“If you managed to progress through all of those, you qualified to play in the U.S. Kids World Championship. I was fortunate enough to qualify for that at the age of eight years old.

“When we got to America, this was a system that a lot of juniors had adopted at that age of forward tees and gradually making the course longer as you grow, and my dad really thought that idea was great in terms of just installing the abilities and the skills to be able to score and the distance would just follow with age and with growth. So it was after that point that we really stuck to that for the next four years.

Aaron Rai was kept away from club golf by his dad

“Up until the age of around 12 years old, I used to play off basically a customised course length, which gradually got longer and longer every year from the age of kind of 7 to 12. 12 years old was the first time that I actually played off ladies’ tees.

“Before that, I was playing off the fairways and trying to make the course short enough for me to score par or better even as an 8, 9, 10-year-old. I thought it was a great idea. My dad thought it was a great idea. But naturally that kind of kept me away from club golf, medal golf. I would still play in junior events, but only in my age group, just to really protect, I guess, myself and what we were trying to work on and what we were trying to kind of build towards.

“Then when I was about 13 or 14, I was long enough to be able to play off the men's tees, and that's when I started to play a little bit of club golf. But even though I was maybe good enough and long enough to compete at club golf, I didn't play a huge amount of it. Then, within two or three years of that, I turned professional.”

Rai talked about how his dad had played a big role in him “just staying in your lane” and “focussing on the things that you can do”. He admitted that meant there were times when he “didn’t really mix with a lot of other junior golfers” but, looking back, he didn’t mind that.

“I think he kind of sheltered me to be able to develop in a way that made sense for me, in a way that I guess was a little bit unique with two gloves, with iron covers, etc,” admitted golf’s new star, who picked up $3.69 million for his win.

“I think by the time he probably allowed me to play more kind of club golf, play professional golf, I felt like I was strong enough in why I did certain things to be able to continue to move that forward.”

Aaron Rai’s wife is also a professional golfer’

Rai celebrated his maiden major win with his wife Gaurika Bishnoi, who is also a professional golfer. “She's been incredible,” he said. “I'm not exaggerating when I say that I wouldn't be here without her. Both as a companion, as a friend, as someone I'm sharing my life with, but also as a real support system for my game. She's a professional golfer herself.

“So her mindset, her advice, her thoughts, whether it's technique or the way I'm holding myself is absolutely invaluable. She encompasses so many different sides in her opinions. We even had a conversation yesterday for probably 30 minutes in the car just before we got back to the hotel, just speaking a little bit about today. Some of the things that she mentioned in the conversations were really with me today. Yeah, I really wouldn't be here without her.”