Who is Aaron Rai?
Aaron Rai is one of the newest Englishman to have found success on both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.
Born in March 1995 in Wolverhampton, England, Rai took up the game from a young age when his mother returned from the store with plastic golf clubs. He then spent his junior days at Patshull Park. He turned professional at the age of 17, and after a number of years on the PGA EuroPro Tour and the European Challenge Tour, he had his breakthrough year in 2017.
That year, Rai was a three-time winner on the European Challenge Tour, including an emotional win in Kenya, with his Kenyan-born mother alongside him all week. Those three wins granted him immediate exemption to the DP World Tour. He claimed his first victory on the tour in 2018, winning the Honma Hong Kong Open, before then taking the title at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open – one of the Rolex Series events on the tour – a couple of years later.
His debut year on the PGA Tour came in the 2022 season, but the Englishman would have to wait two years before he claimed his first victory. That came at the Wyndham Championship, and he would go on to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship later that year as well.
Aaron Rai | Player Profile
Personal Information
Name: Aaron Rai
Born: March 3, 1995
Nationality: England
Residence: Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Career
Turned Pro: 2012
Professional Wins: 7
Highest World Ranking: 21 – August 18, 2024
Best Results In Majors
Best Finishes:
– Masters Tournament – DNP
– PGA Championship – T39 (2024)
– US Open – T19 (2024)
– Open Championship – T19 (2021)
Professional Wins – 7
2015 (1) – Glenfarclas Open
2017 (3) – Barclays Kenya Open, Andalucía Costa del Sol Match Play 9, Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge
2018 (1) – Honma Hong Kong Open
2020 (1) – Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open
2024 (1) – Wyndham Championship
Aaron Rai | What’s In His Bag?
Unlike most, Rai does not use the newest clubs available. Instead, he opts for a TaylorMade M6 driver, along with SIM2 fairway woods and hybrids.
You can take a look at our full piece on what’s in Aaron Rai’s bag here.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Aaron Rai
When and where was Aaron Rai born?
Aaron Rai was born in Wolverhampton, England in March 1995. He fell into the game of golf, with his mother bringing home plastic clubs.
When did Aaron Rai turn professional?
Aaron Rai turned professional in 2012 and spent time on the PGA EuroPro Tour and European Challenge Tour before graduating to the DP World Tour for the 2017 season.
How many professional titles has Aaron Rai won?
As of August 2024, Rai is a seven-time winner as a professional. He has two DP World Tour wins – the Honma Hong Kong Open and the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open – along with a sole PGA Tour victory. That came at the Wyndham Championship.
Did you Know?
Two Gloves
Rai is one of very few professional golfers to wear two gloves. He says that it aids with his grip, and that his game would be “messy” without them.
Island Ace
The Englishman has his name in the history books at TPC Sawgrass, and the Players Championship. He is one of only a few to have made a hole-in-one on the signature 17th hole on the Stadium Course, doing so in 2023.
Who Needs Signature Events?
Rai’s 2024 season was a successful one, as it brought about his first victory on the PGA Tour. He also managed to make it to the season-ending Tour Championship, despite not featuring in any of the eight Signature Events that year.
Other Aaron Rai Articles
PGA Tour star Aaron Rai on Wyndham win, a surprise season and his Masters debut
Why does Aaron Rai wear two gloves?
What do you make of Aaron Rai’s ascendancy towards the top of golf? Can the Englishman go on and win major titles? Let us know your thoughts with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
Matt Coles
Mention a European country, and Matt will tell you which resorts make the National Club Golfer Top 100s: European Resorts list. He might even throw in who designed the golf course and how many rooms the hotel has got at each one…
Matt got into the game of golf from a young age, following his old man to the local golf club. He fell for the sport, and now can’t seem to go a day without thinking about how to improve his game (Thanks Dad!). Matt has been a member of Howley Hall GC in Leeds since 2020, and is just about managing to maintain a single-figure handicap. He likes to remind people that he once broke 75, but won’t tell people that it was on a shortened course during the winter.
He moved to Leeds after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours degree in Sports Journalism. Matt joined NCG after almost five years travelling the world with the Professional Squash Association, working on events in all four corners of the globe.
Matt currently plays a Cobra King LTDx driver and RadSpeed 3-wood. TaylorMade monopolise the rest of his bag, with a SIM UDI, M5 irons and both Milled Grind and HI-TOE wedges, along with a Monza Redline putter. He uses a Vice Pro Plus golf ball, because he’s a bit different…
Away from golf, Matt is a Manchester United fan, and a keen runner, having ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (his first and possibly last), in May 2023.
