For a decade, the Wanamaker Trophy belonged to America. Ten consecutive winners, ten consecutive reminders that the PGA Championship had become the most domestically dominated major in men’s golf. Then Aaron Rai stood over a 70-foot putt on the 17th green at Aronimink Golf Club, rolled it into the centre of the cup, and ended all of that.
The 32-year-old from Wolverhampton is a major champion. The first English winner of the PGA Championship in 107 years. And the man who, alongside whichever European claimed the Masters earlier this season, has delivered the most significant statement of intent that continental golf has made in years.
From Two Behind to Three Clear: The Comeback Nobody Saw Coming
Rai did not look like a champion in the making when Sunday began. He was two strokes off the lead and, with 10 holes of his final round still to play, found himself three back — watching the leaderboard shift and congeal around a group of players who all believed the title was theirs to claim.
What followed was a masterclass in patience, precision, and nerve.
It started at the par-five ninth. A 40-foot eagle putt — the kind that separates a solid final round from a legendary one — dropped into the hole and catapulted Rai back into contention. Suddenly he was tied for second and within one shot of the lead.
The back nine was where the tournament was decided. Rai birdied the 11th. He scrambled brilliantly from a greenside bunker at the drivable par-four 13th to pick up another shot. When German challenger Matti Schmid — who had briefly led and looked dangerous — bogeyed the 10th, Rai sensed his moment.
He took it with both hands.
A two-putt birdie at the par-five 16th extended his advantage. Then came the shot of the tournament. Standing on the par-three 17th, Rai faced a 70-foot putt across the green. He struck it. It rolled and rolled and disappeared into the hole. The roar at Aronimink confirmed what the leaderboard was already beginning to show: this was Aaron Rai’s major.
A composed two-putt par at the last sealed a final-round 65. Nine under par for the week. Three clear of the field. Champion.
A European One-Two That Rewrites the Narrative
The personal story is compelling. The wider context is historic.
Rai’s victory at Aronimink means that the opening two men’s majors of 2025 have both been won by European players — the first time that has happened in the modern era. The significance of that cannot be overstated. For years, the conversation in men’s major golf has centred on American dominance, bolstered by the world number one Scottie Scheffler and a generation of elite US Tour players. That conversation now needs updating.
Europe’s best are not merely competing. They are winning.
Jon Rahm, who finished tied second alongside overnight leader Alex Smalley, will feel that most acutely. The Spaniard was chasing the third leg of the career Grand Slam — a victory that would place him among the game’s immortals. He made his move early, birdieing the first two holes to pull level with Smalley on six under. But a bogey at the third stalled his momentum, and he never quite recovered, finishing on six under after a final-round 68.
For Rahm, it is the familiar ache of a player who knows he is capable of winning any major he enters, yet finds the final pieces slipping away on Sunday afternoon. His time will come. It always does with players of his quality. But on this occasion, a fellow European was simply better.
Scheffler, McIlroy, and the Champions Who Didn’t
Scottie Scheffler arrived at Aronimink as defending champion and, in theory, a man capable of adding a fifth major in as many seasons. He left having closed a final-round 69 for a two-under total — creditable in most contexts, wholly insufficient in this one.
The reason was the putter. Scheffler missed six putts from inside five feet across the week — an extraordinary statistic for a player of his ability, and one that haunted him on every green. He admitted as much afterwards.
“When I look back on a week like this, I feel I’ve had a really good year on the greens,” he said, “and to have a disappointing week on the greens at a major is a tough pill to swallow.”
The consolation for Scheffler: the US Open next month offers the chance to complete his own career Grand Slam. He will not be short of motivation.
Rory McIlroy, bidding for back-to-back major titles, gave himself a brief window of hope on Sunday. He saved par at the first with a 10-foot putt and then birdied the second to get within two of the lead. For a moment, the prospect of a McIlroy charge felt real.
It did not materialise. The front nine yielded nothing further. A bogey at the drivable 13th, where a wayward three-wood left him in the rough and unable to find the green, ended whatever slim hopes remained. McIlroy finished tied seventh, five strokes back — equalling his best finish at the PGA Championship since his victory in 2014, but a long way from where he wanted to be.
The Man Himself: Surreal, Grateful, and Quietly Brilliant
Through all of it — the leaderboard swings, the pressure putts, the Sunday atmosphere at a major championship — Rai remained composed in a way that belied the magnitude of what he was achieving.
He described the victory afterwards as “very surreal.” He spoke of a frustrating season that had not delivered the results his game deserved. He credited consistent practice, physical wellbeing, and a genuine enjoyment of the Aronimink course.
“To be stood here is definitely outside of my wildest imagination,” he said.
It may have been outside his imagination. It was not, on the evidence of this week, outside his ability. Rai ranked 44th in the world entering the championship — a good player by any measure, but not a name that featured in most pre-tournament predictions. He leaves Pennsylvania as a major champion, an English sporting hero, and the man who finally broke America’s grip on the Wanamaker Trophy.
The PGA Tour moves to Texas for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch, where Scheffler defends his title. The US Open follows next month — the next major, the next opportunity, and for several players in this field, the next chapter in what is becoming an increasingly compelling season.
For Aaron Rai, whatever comes next will be measured against this week. He has raised the bar for himself and, in doing so, raised the bar for European golf in the major championships.
America’s decade of dominance at the PGA Championship is over. A player from Wolverhampton ended it with a 70-foot putt on a Sunday afternoon in Pennsylvania.
