NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Aaron Rai stood straight with his arms behind his back, perfect posture, as he waited to be introduced as the latest — and among the most remarkable — winner of the PGA Championship.Next to him on a small table was the Wanamaker Trophy, big and silver and shiny.Rai couldn’t resist a quick glance at the 27-pound trophy and all those names. Jim Barnes won the first two PGA Championships in 1916 and 1919, and there had never been another winner from England until Rai won at Aronimink on Sunday. And there was Tiger Woods, once a mythical figure on VHS tapes to a young boy growing up in Wolverhampton.“We used to watch them a hell of a lot, probably two, three times a week, if not more,” Rai said of the tapes of Woods winning U.S. Amateurs and his early feats as a pro. “I just remember being in awe just watching all of the things that he could do. “So, yeah, to have my name even with him on this trophy is incredible, really.”Practically everything about Rai’s victory Sunday was incredible.He was among 22 players separated by four shots going into the final round, a logjam the likes of which the PGA Championship had never seen. He was just another name on the leaderboard midway through the final round, three shots behind and coming off two bogeys in three holes.What followed was the stuff of major champions — seven consecutive one-putt greens, including a 40-foot eagle on the par-5 ninth that turned his fortunes. He was 6 under over the last 10 holes. The last time anyone did better to win a major was Jack Nicklaus in the 1986 Masters.Rai’s first love as a boy was Formula 1 and he dreamed of being a driver. He certainly drove like one on the back nine, zooming into the lead, leaving behind the likes of Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, Xander Schau …
