Aaron Rai runs away with the PGA Championship, first English-born winner in more than a century

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Aaron Rai shifted into high gear Sunday and pulled away from a world-class field with one amazing shot after another until he became the first English-born player in more than a century to capture the PGA Championship.

Rai, who dreamed of being a Formula 1 driver until he turned to golf as a boy, was three shots behind and approaching the turn at Aronimink Golf Club when he delivered a performance worthy of a major champion.

He made a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 ninth during a stretch when he one-putted seven straight greens to take the lead.

And on the closing holes when the contenders needed him to stumble, Rai holed a birdie putt of some 70 feet across the 17th green for the clincher.

The 31-year-old Rai, who joins two-time PGA champion Vijay Singh as major champions of Indian heritage, closed with a 5-under 65.

“To be here is outside my wildest imagination,” Rai said.

Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Smith, Justin Rose, all major champions, all of them in position until they were undone by untimely mistakes or failure to get good looks at birdie.

McIlroy, who closed with a 69, played the par 5s in even for the week and he chopped up the reachable par-4 13th for a bogey. He also glared and softly cursed at a fan who said, “USA,” after McIlroy hit a wedge from the rough to the bunker on the par-5 16th. It was an indication McIlroy knew his hopes were all but gone.

Rai, who finished at 9-under 271, is the first player from England with his name on the Wanamaker Trophy since Jim Barnes in 1919, the second edition of this major and the first after World War I.

He wound up winning by three shots over 54-hole leader Alex Smalley and Rahm, who had his best finish in a major since defecting to LIV Golf at the end of 2023. Rahm was slowed by a pair of bogeys on the front nine, and managed only one birdie on the back nine for a 68.

Smalley lost the lead with a messy double bogey on the sixth hole, and his best golf was too late. Rai already had his eye on the Wanamaker Trophy. Smalley made birdie on the 18th for a 70.

Justin Thomas made a 16-foot par putt on the final hole for a 65 and pulled him within one shot of the lead as the final group was in the second fairway. For the longest time, as Aronimink got tougher and the pressure got tighter, it looked like Thomas might have a chance.

Like everything else on this final day, Rai ended those hopes, too.

So concluded a most remarkable week in the Philadelphia suburbs, where no one could separate themselves on Aronimink. The 22 players within four shots of the lead going into the final round was a PGA Championship record.

From that pack emerged the 31-year-old Rai, with one PGA Tour title, three on the European tour, and no finishes inside the top 15 at any of the majors.

He might not be well known among casual observers, but he is a star in the eyes of his peers for his humility and gracious personality.

“You won’t find one person on property who’s not happy for him,” McIlroy said.

“Super pumped for him and his team,” Schauffele said. “All-world gentleman, no doubt.”

He wears two gloves, a habit he started as a kid in England to battle the cold winters when he was practicing — and he was always practicing. Even more unusual for Rai is the plastic covers on each iron, a reminder of his roots.

He once said his father sacrificed to buy the nicest golf clubs and then would clean the grooves with baby oil after his son was done playing. Rai has left the iron covers on since then “to remember where I cam from and to respect what I have.”

“Anybody that uses head covers in his irons because he coveted his irons when he was a kid so much that he wanted to respect the equipment and to still do it? Yeah, it shows a lot about a person,” Rahm said. “What he did today is nothing short of special.”

Those seven straight one-putts included a short putt for bogey on the par-3 eighth, leaving Rai three behind Matti Schmid, who had three birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front to take the lead.

Rai hit 5-wood into the ninth for his 40-foot eagle putt. He saved par with a 10-foot putt on the 10th. He hit wedge to 4 feet to a dangerous pin on the 11th for birdie. He got up-and-down from behind the 12th green for par.

And on the 292-yard 13th hole, which tripped up McIlroy and Schauffele and Nick Taylor of Canada when they were right in the mix, Rai blasted out of a bunker to 6 feet for a birdie to become the first player all week to reach 7 under. And then he kept right on going.

Thomas wound up in a for fourth at 5-under 275 with Ludvig Aberg (69) and Schmid, whose 5-foot par putt on the 18th hole gets him into his first Masters next year. Smith, who didn't drop a shot until the 17th hole, had a 68 to join McIlroy and Schauffele (69) another shot back.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the third hole and twice missed 3-foot par putts on the back nine in his closing round of 69 to tie for 14th, his first time out of the top 10 at a major since the 2024 U.S. Open.

Rai now has a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour, and into the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. He can play the PGA Championship for life.

“Golf is an amazing game,” Rai said. “It teaches you so many things, and it teaches you so much humility and discipline and absolute hard work because nothing is ever given in this game.”

Nothing was given to him Sunday. Rai simply outplayed the strongest field in golf and won it.

This version has been corrected to add Vijay Singh as a previous major champion of Indian heritage.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Aaron Rai, of England, holds the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Aaron Rai, of England, left, hugs Justin Rose's caddie Mark Fulcher after finishing on the 18th green during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Aaron Rai, of England, waves on the 10th green during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Aaron Rai, of England, hits his approach shot from the 18th fairway during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Aaron Rai, of England, embraces his caddie after his round on the 18th green during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Aaron Rai, of England, waves on the 18th green after his round during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Aaron Rai, of England, celebrates after his shot on the 17th green during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Jon Rahm, of Spain, looks at his club on the third fairway during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Alex Smalley hits from the bunker on the third green during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, watches his shot on the 11th fairway during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Justin Thomas reacts to missing a putt on the 17th green during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Matti Schmid, of Germany, waves on the third green during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Scottie Scheffler reacts to missing a putt on the 17th green during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Jon Rahm, of Spain, reacts to a missed putt on the 12th green during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Matti Schmid, of Germany, waves on the 18th green during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, lines up his shot on the 16th green during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Alex Smalley hits from the fourth tee during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — He’s the best player on the best team. And the voters say he’s the best player in the league, too.

Again.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player on Sunday for the second consecutive year. He became the 18th player to win at least two MVP awards and the 14th to win them in back-to-back fashion.

“Who he is has never changed,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I think he’s touched up the edges on his game and on his leadership and on his perspective, just like anybody else that’s coming of age.”

The win for Gilgeous-Alexander, who is Canadian, marks the eighth consecutive time that the NBA’s MVP was born outside the U.S. The run started with Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (born in Greece, of Nigerian descent) in 2019 and 2020, then Denver’s Nikola Jokic (Serbia) in 2021 and 2022, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (born in Cameroon but has since become a U.S. citizen) in 2023 and Jokic again in 2024.

And in 2025 and 2026, SGA is the MVP.

“Shai’s so good at creating separation when he’s able to play 1-on-1,” Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “He’s just really hard to stop, for any defender.”

International players finished 1-2-3 in the MVP balloting for the fifth consecutive season, with Jokic and San Antonio’s star French center Victor Wembanyama the other finalists this year.

— Last season the order was Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and Antetokounmpo.

— In 2024, it was Jokic, then Gilgeous-Alexander and then-Dallas guard, now Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic of Slovenia.

— In 2023, it was Embiid, then Jokic, then Antetokounmpo.

— In 2022, it was Jokic, then Embiid, then Antetokounmpo.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama will face off Monday night when the Thunder and Spurs open Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is expected at Monday’s game to formally present Gilgeous-Alexander with a trophy for the third time in 12 months — the MVP award last May, the NBA Finals MVP award last June, and now this.

The MVP win is Gilgeous-Alexander’s second major individual award this season; he was also voted the league’s Clutch Player of the Year by an overwhelming margin — he got 96 of 100 first-place votes in that balloting, paying tribute to how great his performances tend to be in the final five minutes of close games.

Then again, he’s pretty good no matter how much time is on the clock.

Gilgeous-Alexander was second in the league with 31.1 points per game, second only to Doncic and his 33.5-point average. He also extended his NBA-record streak of regular season games with at least 20 points to 140 and counting; it’ll carry into next season as well.

He’s delightfully boring — one of the few mid-range specialists in the game, someone who excels at drawing fouls, isn’t a look-at-me type and gives some of the most thoughtful answers of anyone in the league. Emotions aren’t worth his time; staying calm is always his preferred move.

“It just gives me the best chance to make the right decision on the next play, which is what’s most important,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’ve noticed throughout my career and through personal experiences that emotions only get in the way of critical and smart thinking — especially in those moments when I want to get the job done the most. I try to put my emotions aside and stay locked in on what’s present and what matters most.”

Jokic not winning the award continues an odd trend: those who average a triple-double, often thought of as the holy grail of in-game accomplishment, almost never win MVP.

Jokic had the seventh instance of a player finishing a season averaging a triple-double — at least 10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds per game — by putting up 27.7 points, a league-best 12.9 rebounds and a league-best 10.7 assists per game.

It wasn’t good enough for MVP. Russell Westbrook averaged a triple-double four times and won MVP only once in those years. Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double in 1961-62; he didn’t win MVP that season. And now, Jokic has done it twice — with no MVPs to show for it, though he has won the award on three other occasions.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry was the last player born in the U.S. to be in the top three of the MVP balloting; he was third in 2021 behind Jokic and Embiid. The last U.S. winner of the award was James Harden, then of Houston, in 2018. Harden has played for four different franchises since then.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander celebrates late in the second half of Game 2 in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)