Ten major champions went into the final round of the 108th PGA Championship on Sunday within five shots of the lead.
Looking up the leaderboard at inexperienced 54-hole co-leaders Alex Smalley and Matti Schmid, Aronimink seemed prime for a major winner to snatch the Wanamaker Trophy.
But that never panned out, as England’s Aaron Rai was sensational, going 6 under over his final 10 holes to win his first major championship at 9-under 271.
Jon Rahm was a threat early in the round. The two-time major winner birdied his first two holes Sunday and briefly had a share of the lead at 6 under. Rai made bogeys on Nos. 3 and 7 and combined with Rai’s remarkable play – he wasn't able to win his first Wanamaker Trophy. Rahm would card a 2-under 68 and tied for second with Alex Smalley, three strokes behind Rai.
“I played really good golf,” Rahm said. “That's the only way to look at it. Just wish I'd have done better with the speed of the greens. Just couldn't seem to get it to the hole, and that's the reason why I didn't hole any more putts. Even though, even so, what Aaron did today, catching him could have been very difficult. I don't know if it could happen, but I would have liked a better chance playing the last two holes. I feel like I was still close on playing 16 until he made that long putt. As far as I'm concerned, to be in the mix again and hit it as good as I did and perform as well as I did this weekend, it's been a great week.”
Two-time PGA Champion Justin Thomas began the final round six shots out of the lead and was truly the only major winner to make a serious move. Thomas went out early and fired a 5-under 65 to get to 5 under and take the clubhouse lead. Long before Rai went birdie crazy on the back nine, it looked like Thomas would spend the day waiting around to see if he’d be in a playoff. He’d finish in a tie for fourth with Matti Schmid and Ludvig Aberg.
The trio of major winners Cam Smith (started the day four strokes behind), Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele (both started the day three behind) all finished in a tie for seventh.
“I think not birdieing the two par 5s and making the bogey at the drivable par-4 13th [cost me],” said McIlroy. “To me I felt like I played the golf I needed to play the rest of the way. If I birdied the two par 5s and turned that 5 into a 3 on 13, the day looks very different.”
“I'm super happy for him,” Schauffele said of Rai. “He's such a good dude. Rarely do you see people work really hard. I mean, that's not fair. Rarely do you feel like people work way harder than you is what I was trying to say. I feel like I've played a pretty good amount of time, and Aaron is always there. He's always in the gym. He's always on the range. He's always -- you know, at the Scottish, I'm staying right on site there. I thought it was fun for Austin [Schauffele’s caddie] and I to go putt. Aaron is finishing up his little putting session at 9 p.m. and going to the gym at 9:45 p.m. This was three years ago. I think that's what it's about to be a major champion. You puts the work in when nobody's looking. Super pumped for him and his team.”
Justin Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion, and Patrick Reed – the 2018 Masters champ – tied for 10th at 3 under.
Defending PGA Champion Scottie Scheffler shot a 1-under 69 in the final round. He tied for 14th at 2 under with 2022 U.S. Open champ Matt Fitzpatrick who shot a 5-under 65 on Sunday.
