Aaron Rai - Player Blog

In this week’s Player Blog, Aaron Rai discusses exceeding his own expectations by becoming a recent PGA TOUR winner, the resilience he has shown since becoming a dual member, not looking too far ahead and being an inspiration for British Asians.

While I am now a winner on the PGA TOUR, I don’t feel any different as a golfer. The beautiful thing about golf is that no matter what's come before, you're in exactly the same position at the start of the week just like everyone else. The game doesn’t give you anything because of what you have achieved. You still have to go out on the course and perform on a level playing field. I am very aware that it doesn’t mean anything for this week. What has changed a little bit since my victory at the Wyndham Championship is that I am getting a little more attention at tournaments, a few more media requests, maybe a few more people coming to watch at tournaments. But that is more around me rather than anything that I feel different about myself.

The immediate reaction to winning is difficult to fully express. It's hard to have all of those thoughts that come into your mind in the immediate aftermath of winning. But when I was in the recording hut in North Carolina, when I found out it was official, both Billy Horschel and the scorer said congratulations and I think I struggled to speak for 30 seconds to a minute. It just felt extremely overwhelming. I felt emotional and definitely had tears in my eyes. It's an amazing accomplishment, I think, for anyone. I'm not saying that because it's me. It requires so much to even get there and then to go a step further and win a PGA TOUR event is extremely special. It’s a culmination of a lifetime’s work really.

Growing up, I'd always seen the DP World Tour and the PGA TOUR on the same level. I wouldn't have associated one as being any different to the other. It was truly a dream come true when I won my first DP World Tour title in Hong Kong in 2018, before going on to win my second in a Rolex Series event at the Scottish Open in 2020. Making it onto the PGA TOUR wasn’t really in my aspirations, if I'm honest, because I'd always felt the DP World Tour was the pinnacle of golf. Getting onto the PGA TOUR was an ambition beyond what I thought possible. But winning there, especially after experiencing the strength and depth of golf and how much it truly requires is extremely satisfying.

Since gaining my PGA TOUR card for the 2022 season via the Korn Ferry Tour, it has definitely been a transition for me as a golfer. On the course, in terms of the style of golf, the grasses, how fast the greens are and how thick the rough is. Even the constant heat and humidity that we play in is quite different to what we play in for most weeks on the DP World Tour. Being on the other side of the world away from friends and family and that support network is also not straightforward.

What was really nice for me when I first played events on the PGA TOUR was how welcoming some of the senior players were. Just with being congratulatory of making it onto the PGA TOUR. Even though they have been on the Tour for a long time, they are aware how difficult it is. Aaron Baddeley was very giving in his time to me even at the Korn Ferry Tour Final events and first few on the PGA TOUR. I didn’t really know who he was before but he was very giving in his advice. I think he sat with me for probably an hour and a half at the final Korn Ferry Tour Finals, just speaking to me on the putting green. That was amazing of him because he didn’t have his PGA TOUR card and needed a really good week that week to get it back. He has been very generous over the last few years with his time. I have been very lucky with how he and others have treated me.

Graft and resilience is required. There's definitely an element of my progress, this year in particular, feeling more rewarding as a result of it not being immediate. There’s a sense of me going through the different levels: being competitive, keeping your card, getting into the play-offs, and then progressing this year to the final event of the FedExCup Playoffs. It has been a really nice progression and something I'm really proud of. How things have transpired this year would have been beyond my best expectations. I was not in the Signature Events at the start of the year, so getting into the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking and those Signature Events for next year would have been amazing.

The level of golf on the DP World Tour is extremely strong, it is extremely strong too on the PGA TOUR. There are just a lot of things to continue to adapt to. To try and make all of those adjustments in a very short amount of time is really difficult. It has been incredible seeing how well Robert MacIntyre and Matthieu Pavon have done this year - to finish in the top 20 on the FedExCup rankings in their rookie season is incredible. When you're seeing new courses for the first time, it is just a phenomenal achievement. I think that should be really celebrated over here. For me, it has definitely taken a little longer but I am very pleased with how it has gone over the last two to three years.

There is always one eye looking forward. Even when I was enjoying my run of top tens leading up to my victory in the United States, it can be very hard to take stock. I think it's very hard to grab hold of what is going right. It's almost the more you try and really understand it, the more it kind of slips through your fingers. I think it's that balance of acknowledging the good groundwork that is going into the performances but not trying to control things too much. It is so impressive what the best players in the world do of closing the book on what's happened, but at the same time acknowledging what's happened.

I'm obviously aware that the Ryder Cup is next year and the conversations that come with that. But I try not to set it as an aspiration. I find that it doesn't work best for me when my focus goes too far towards any of those outcomes. I'll do my best to play as well as I can and continue to improve as a player. Hopefully, making a Ryder Cup team happens in the future, whether it's next year or whether it's further down the line. I'll give myself a chance to make it onto one of those teams. If I continue to do a lot of good things and continue along the path that that I've been on in recent years then I can give myself a chance. I think that's all I can do. Ultimately, it will depend on form which is probably the biggest thing leading up to a Ryder Cup. And that's still such a long way away.

The BMW PGA Championship is the DP World Tour’s flagship event. As a golf course, Wentworth demands a little bit of everything. Driving the ball well is at a premium. The green complexes are great. It requires a lot of versatility with approach shots. It’s just got a real mix of some challenging holes and some chances, with par fives at 17 and 18 being quite unique. It is a test of your ball-striking game. I think from my own performances over the last few years, it's definitely been a mixed bag when I've played here. Missed a few cuts and then, last year was definitely the best result that we've had. It's hard to put my finger on why that happened but what I do know is I always look forward to this event and try to plan my schedule around this week in order to try and give myself the best chance I can to perform well. 

It's definitely a privilege to represent British Asians in elite sport. The game of golf in the Asian community is in a great place. Sahith Theegala, who finished third in the FedEx this year, Akshay Bhatia, who has won twice on the PGA TOUR, are great ambassadors. Shubhankar Sharma has been on the DP World Tour for a while now and is enjoying a great career. I'm sure he’ll get onto the PGA TOUR very soon. There is a good representation of Indian golfers, certainly people that have Indian heritage. They are just great people which I think is even more important than being good golfers. From my perspective, the best thing that can be done is to try and be a really good example of that. Be that the way that I play, the way I conduct myself on the course. Hopefully the way that I speak and also communicate with kids. If you can’t set a good example then you can’t expect anyone else to do that. Whatever influence that has isn’t much in my control, but hopefully it only has a positive impact.

Since I moved to Ponte Vedra Beach last year, I have settled really fast. I spent time in the area during off-weeks in my rookie season in 2022 and really enjoyed the facilities at TPC Sawgrass. Once the fall events finished in 2021, I went there with my mum and my sister and we spent three weeks there. I really enjoyed the golf course and practising there. I spent the majority of 2022 in and out of hotels, whether that was at tournaments or whether that was in Jacksonville. Ahead of 2023, I saw myself competing mainly on the PGA TOUR and felt that it was important to have a little bit more stability and a base in the states.

A lot of my close family still live in Wolverhampton, so it's always been important to me to return when I can. Unfortunately, I have not been back for about 12 months now, due to my schedule largely being in America. There's a sense of grounding that comes from being at home and around your family. I'm definitely looking forward to spending some time there at the end of this year and fully appreciate what I've achieved.