Aaron Rai

English professional golfer (born 1995) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aaron Rai (born 3 March 1995) is an English professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has won three times on the European Tour; the 2018 Honma Hong Kong Open and the 2020 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, and once on the PGA Tour at the 2024 Wyndham Championship. He is one of the few professional golfers to wear two gloves.[2]

Born (1995-03-03) 3 March 1995 (age 31)
Wolverhampton, England
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight150 lb (68 kg; 11 st)
Sporting nationality England
Quick facts Personal information, Born ...
Aaron Rai
Personal information
Born (1995-03-03) 3 March 1995 (age 31)
Wolverhampton, England
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight150 lb (68 kg; 11 st)
Sporting nationality England
ResidenceJacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Career
Turned professional2012
Current toursPGA Tour
European Tour
Former toursChallenge Tour
PGA EuroPro Tour
Professional wins8
Highest ranking20 (22 September 2024)[1]
(as of 22 March 2026)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
European Tour3
Asian Tour1
Challenge Tour3
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT27: 2025
PGA ChampionshipT19: 2025
U.S. OpenT19: 2024
The Open ChampionshipT19: 2021
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Professional career

Rai turned professional in 2012. In 2014 and 2015 he played on the PGA EuroPro Tour. He won the 2015 Glenfarclas Open after a playoff, finished 5th in the Order of Merit and was promoted to the Challenge Tour for 2016.[3]

Rai was 18th in the 2016 Challenge Tour Order of Merit and just missed out on a European Tour place. His best finish was joint runner-up in the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge, a stroke behind the winner, Alexander Björk.

2017 was a successful season for Rai, with three wins on the Challenge Tour. In March he won the Barclays Kenya Open by 3 strokes.[4] His Kenya-born mother embraced him on the final green, seconds after his final stroke: Rai said that it was her first visit to Kenya since she left in 1970. He had his second win in May, the Andalucía Costa del Sol Match Play 9, beating Irishman Gavin Moynihan 2&1 in the 9-hole final. His third success came in July in the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge where he won by 5 strokes. The third win gave him an immediate entry to the European Tour. In May, at Walton Heath, he led international section qualifying for the U.S. Open but failed to make the cut in his first major.[5]

In his first season on the European Tour Rai had four top-10 finishes and ended the 2018 season 58th in the Order of Merit. His highest finish was tied for 5th place in the BMW International Open and he was 8th in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in November.

Rai won the 2018 Honma Hong Kong Open, the first event of the 2019 European Tour season. He led by 6 strokes after three rounds but was pushed hard by Matt Fitzpatrick, who finished with a final round 64. Rai's lead had been reduced to one shot after 16 holes but Fitzpatrick bogeyed the 17th and, despite a bogey at the last hole, Rai won by one.[6]

In September 2020, Rai held the 54-hole lead at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, but was unable to convert this into a victory as John Catlin overtook him by two shots; ultimately finishing runner-up.[7] A week later, Rai defeated Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff to win the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, a result that lifted him into the world top 100 for the first time.[8][9]

In August 2021, Rai entered the Albertsons Boise Open as part of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in a way of obtaining a PGA Tour card for the 2021–22 season. He held a one-shot lead on the final hole of the tournament, however a closing double-bogey saw him drop to a tie for second-place, one shot behind Greyson Sigg. The result was still good enough for Rai to secure his card for the following season.[10]

Rai finished 93rd in the FedEx standings in 2022 which secured his playing rights for the following year.

In the third round of the 2023 Players Championship, Rai scored a hole-in-one on the signature 17th island green.[11]

A successful 2024 season saw Rai claim his maiden victory on the PGA Tour at the Wyndham Championship,[12] five other top-10 finishes as well as making 14 cuts in a row. He also qualified for the Tour Championship and was the only golfer in the 30 man field to do so without playing a single signature event.

In November 2025, Rai defeated Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff to win the title at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. Rai made a birdie on the first extra hole to seal his win.[13]

Personal life

Rai lives in Jacksonville, Florida and practices at nearby TPC at Sawgrass.

He is married to Gaurika Bishnoi, a professional golfer from India.[14]

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (1)

More information No., Date ...
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 11 Aug 2024 Wyndham Championship −18 (65-65-68-64=262) 2 strokes United States Max Greyserman
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European Tour wins (3)

More information Legend ...
Legend
Playoff events (1)
Rolex Series (2)[a]
Other European Tour (1)
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More information No., Date ...
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1 25 Nov 2018
(2019 season)
Honma Hong Kong Open1 −17 (65-61-68-69=263) 1 stroke England Matt Fitzpatrick
2 4 Oct 2020 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open −11 (70-69-70-64=273) Playoff England Tommy Fleetwood
3 9 Nov 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship −25 (64-66-67-66=263) Playoff England Tommy Fleetwood
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1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (2–0)

More information No., Year ...
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2020 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open England Tommy Fleetwood Won with par on first extra hole
2 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship England Tommy Fleetwood Won with birdie on first extra hole
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Challenge Tour wins (3)

More information No., Date ...
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 26 Mar 2017 Barclays Kenya Open −17 (67-66-69-65=267) 3 strokes France Adrien Saddier
2 21 May 2017 Andalucía Costa del Sol Match Play 9 2 and 1 Republic of Ireland Gavin Moynihan
3 23 Jul 2017 Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge −18 (66-65-69-66=266) 5 strokes Denmark Morten Ørum Madsen
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PGA EuroPro Tour wins (1)

More information No., Date ...
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1 17 Jul 2015 Glenfarclas Open −8 (64-68-70=202) Playoff England Craig Hinton
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Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

More information Tournament ...
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More information Tournament ...
Tournament 2019202020212022202320242025
Masters Tournament T27
PGA Championship CUT T39 T19
U.S. Open T19 T33
The Open Championship NT T19 CUT T75 T34
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  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Results in The Players Championship

More information Tournament ...
Tournament 2023202420252026
The Players Championship T19 T35 T14 CUT
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CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

More information Tournament ...
Tournament201920202021
Championship T51 T18
Match Play NT
Invitational T12 T26
Champions NT NT
Close
  Did not play

NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Professional

See also

Notes

  1. The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is also a Rolex Series tournament.

References

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