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NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- No one was talking about Aaron Rai's chances of winning his first major entering the weekend, but on a Sunday afternoon where the stars on the leaderboard struggled mightily, it was the 31-year-old Englishman who dominated the final round with a 5-under 65 to win the 2026 PGA Championship.
Rai's assured victory at Aronimink Golf Club snaps a streak of 10 consecutive American winners and breaks a nearly 107-year drought for Englishmen at the PGA Championship. He joins Jim Barnes, who won in 1916 and 1919 when the PGA Championship was a match play event, as the only Englishmen to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy. None of their countrymen had previously done so since the major switched to stroke play in 1958.
As much as Rai's performance has surprised, it was more than earned. The second athlete of South Asian descent to win a men's golf major (Vijay Singh) did what no one else could on Sunday afternoon, piling up the birdies to run away from the field. He went 4 under on the back nine, 6 under across his final 10 holes thanks to an eagle on the par-5 9th.
Rai initially appeared to be backing out of contention after three front-nine bogeys had him 1 over on the day. He turned everything around in a hurry with that eagle, riding his momentum all the way back to the clubhouse, which he entered four clear of Justin Thomas, who posted a similar 65 on Sunday.
Rai added birdies on the 11th, 13th, 16th and 17th, hitting some incredible shots along the way. His bunker shot on the drivable 13th showed his nerve, flying it all the way up the hill and getting it to check a few feet away.
On the 16th, he smacked a majestic, cutting long iron through the narrow opening on the par 5 with his second to set up an easy two-putt birdie. And then, on the 17th, Rai put an exclamation point on his championship by burying a 68-footer for birdie that was eerily reminiscent of J.J. Spaun's putt on the 18th at Oakmont during the 2025 U.S. Open.
Rai would have been forgiven if nerves or emotion took hold of him at that point, but he had two more great shots in him on the 18th, splitting the fairway off the tee and then hitting a laser to inside 13 feet. A two-putt par was more than enough to capture the biggest victory of his career with a scintillating 5-under 65 on Sunday. Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley finished second at 6 under with Thomas leading a significant pack tied for fourth.
Joinin Rory McIlroy, who finished tied for seventh, Rai ensured the first two majors of a season were won by Europeans for the first time since the Masters debuted in 1934.
2026 PGA Championship leaderboard breakdown
T2. Jon Rahm, Alex Smalley (-6): After two birdies in his first two holes, it looked like Rahm might take off and be the player to take control of the tournament early, but a miss in the bunker on No. 3 ended his early heater, and he stalled his progress in the middle of his front nine. From there, he could only manage birdies on the two par 5s as his pace with the putting was just fractions off, struggling to get the ball to the hole despite a tremendous ball-striking day. He was far from the only player to struggle on the greens, watching as Rai steadily pulled away on the back until the deficit was too large to overcome on the final two holes. Rahm left thinking positively about his week and his game, noting that he was pleased to see all the work he put in between a disappointing Masters and this week come to fruition with a T2 finish.
Smalley was never expected to be in contention, but he handled himself extremely well given the circumstances and his lack of experience in that position. Much like Saturday, his front nine didn't go as he hoped with a double on the 6th and a bogey on the 8th, but he once again was able to dig deep and find some scoring late with an eagle on the 16th and a birdie on the 18th to get a career-best major finish and guarantee himself a spot in next year's Masters.
T4. Justin Thomas, Ludvig Åberg and Matti Schmid (-5): Thomas started slow but caught fire in the middle of his round and went on to shoot one of the best rounds of the day with a 5-under 65 that put him in the clubhouse lead for a long time. For a stretch in the middle of the afternoon, it looked like Thomas making a playoff was in play, and he could perhaps replicate his playoff win from 2022. Ultimately, his Sunday charge wasn't enough, but after a lackluster performance at the Masters, he's been steadily trending in the right direction. A T4 is his best major finish since winning the 2022 PGA -- his first top 10 since a T8 at the 2024 PGA -- and he can continue building some positive momentum into the summer.
For Åberg, it was another Sunday that had so much potential but didn't end with the result he hoped. The putter continues to let him down in the final rounds, and his occasional long, left miss with the irons under pressure is preventing him from putting together the kinds of final rounds needed to win big events. He eventually closed strong with a pair of late birdies to shoot an under-par round and get a top-five finish. He still has work to do with the putter and playing to his full potential on Sundays, but he should feel great about his ball-striking after this week.
T7. Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Smith (-4): McIlroy made an early birdie on the 2nd and then couldn't buy a putt the rest of the day, largely because he had to play defense putting up and across ridges. After two great efforts off the tee on Friday and Saturday, he reverted to the left miss that put him constantly in the rough and forced him to play defense. The result was a 1-under 69 that just never got out of first gear, and he'll be left wondering what could've been had he hit it straighter off the tee.
Schauffele, playing alongside McIlroy, also could not get anything going. Both were still firmly in the mix on the back nine, but bogeys from each on the drivable par-4 13th were the surest sign this would not be their day. This is Schauffele's third straight major top 10, as he seems to have rounded the corner after a rough middle of 2025. The next step is putting together four full rounds to get back into contention to win again, as he will go into the U.S. Open once again aiming for his third major. Smith's top 10 came out of nowhere after six straight missed major cuts, but his abilities as a putter kept him in it despite some scratchy play off the tee.
T14. Scottie Scheffler and three others (-2): If Scheffler could make a putt this week, he would've had a great chance to win. After starting so well on Thursday, it looked like he might break out of his runner-up streak and get back on top. Instead, Thursday ended up being the high point for Scheffler in a cruel twist from the rest of his season, as his ball-striking remained incredible all week, but he was tortured by the confounding greens at Aronimink. Long putts, mid-range putts and short putts all baffled the World No. 1, who finished 72nd out of 82 players who made the cut in putting.
T18. Jordan Spieth and seven others (-1): Spieth will head to Frisco, Texas, next season chasing the grand slam for the 11th consecutive year after a frustrating week. Much like Scheffler, ball-striking wasn't the issue for Spieth as he had a terrible time on the greens. He keeps offering glimpses of hope, this week with some incredible iron shots and creativity, but he just cannot put all the pieces of the puzzle together to really get into contention.
T26. Cameron Young and eight others (E): Young came in as the hottest player on the PGA Tour but stalled out on the weekend with a 70-72 finish that left him well back of the leaders. He was among the many who struggled on the greens like Scheffler and Spieth, although not quite to the same degree. His entire game was just a bit flat compared to the dominant form we've seen of late. Perhaps this wasn't the best course fit for Young, who will continue his quest for a first career major at Shinnecock Hills in June.
