Amid his breakthrough victory at the 2026 PGA Championship, Aaron Rai reflected back on the difficult early days of his golf career.
“I turned pro when I was 17,” Rai, 31, wrote in a Golf Digest essay published on Sunday, May 17. “I talked to my parents and [family friend] Shabir [Randeree]. We believed turning pro was the best way to learn, even though I probably wasn’t ready.”
Rai began his career on the EuroPro Tour, where he said things were “lonely.”
“I missed the first four cuts,” he said. “The guys out there were longer, had more awareness, better strategy, smarter shot selection and putted better. I had a lot to learn, but I saw how accurate I was. I picked up on little things they did.”
Rai explained how his golf career got started at an incredibly young age, all thanks to a bit of chance.
“No one in my family played golf. My dad, Amrik, was a tennis player and says my tennis stroke looked more like a golf swing, so he got me plastic clubs,” Rai said. “I played my first tournament when I was 4 years old. The age group was 12 and under. I had many family members watching.”
He added, “I played in tournaments every month after that. It didn’t take long for me to know I wanted to pursue golf.”
Rai recalled how his “working-class family” supported him throughout his childhood to help him achieve his golf dreams.
“My mum, Dalvir, immigrated to England from Kenya with her family as a teenager. She has had many jobs, from mental-health nurse to aerobics instructor,” Rai wrote. “My dad was a community worker who was born in England but whose family immigrated from India. My dad read golf books to learn about the swing.”
Rai added, “I practiced every day, in all weather. When the clubs got muddy, my dad used a pin to clean every groove. Then he’d put baby oil on the face to prevent rust. He bought me iron covers to protect them. I learned early to value what I had.”
All of that sacrifice and effort paid off in spades on Sunday, when Rai emerged from the field to stun the golf world with his victory at the 2026 PGA Championship, the first major title of his career.
“Golf is an amazing game,” Rai told reporters after the tournament. “It teaches you so many things, and it teaches you so much humility and discipline and absolute hard work because nothing is ever given in this game.”
