CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA | I have covered 22 Ryder Cups and nearly 170 major championships of which more than 40 have been PGA Championships. Soon after 1 o’clock in Friday’s second round I thought I might have covered my last.
The reason? A briskly struck 5-iron by Aaron Rai thudded into the tree in front of which I was standing barely 6 inches from my right hip. It was going at maximum velocity. It is fair to say that before I didn’t realise quite how fast a golf ball travels, the more so one hit from 25 yards away and almost straight at you. If it’s hit by Rory McIlroy it could be moving at 170 mph. I do now.
I suppose to have been injured in the US city named after the wife of a king of the country in which I live – George III of England – has a degree of kudos attached to it. Better than being knocked out by a can of beer at a football match.
Rai was in deep rough to the right of the 16th fairway. A tall tree blocked his route to the green but as its lowest branches were perhaps 9 feet off the ground he thought that if he could hit under them and fade his shot he could get his ball near to the front of the putting surface. That would give him a chance of getting down in two more from there.
Well dear readers, you know now that he didn’t. Instead, his ball whizzed past me, ricocheted off the tree at right angles, narrowly missing a fairway bunker, a gain of perhaps 25 yards. Moments later I heard a radio commentator recounting Rai’s adventures on the 16th and saying “… after nearly killing someone …” I have been called many things in my time but not often “someone.”
“Usually in situations like that I try and make sure everyone is well clear…. I’m glad it missed you.” — Aaron Rai
Later Rai could have been a little more fulsome in saying sorry except that would have been out of character. Quietly spoken, calm and thoughtful, he said all the right things and apologised sincerely if not loudly.
“That definitely wasn’t planned,” he said, laughing nervously when told how near he had gone to giving me a very sore hip at best and something much more serious at worst.
“Usually in situations like that I try and make sure everyone is well clear,” he said. “I was trying to hit it 8 or 9 yards left of the tree. I had 200 yards to the front of the green and 225 to the flag. I felt it was a shot worth taking on even though it was difficult.
“It might have got to the green if it had been hit really well,” Rai continued. “Unfortunately it came out of the hosel and went straight right.” There was a pause and then he added: “I’m glad it missed you.”
“You’re glad it missed, Aaron?“ I said under my breath. “What do you think I am?”
Rai had begun the day 4-under par, one of a record number of six Englishmen in the top 10 after one day’s play at a major championship. The previous record was four. Alongside Rai in this phalanx of men from the land of St George at the top of the leaderboard were Luke Donald (67), Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton (68), Harry Hall and Marco Penge (69).
It was a reminder of another interesting and relevant statistic in considering the rise not only of Englishmen but Europeans in recent years. In this same week in 2005 there were four Europeans in the top 30 of the world ranking. Ten years later that figure had risen to eight and currently there are 11.
Another record: players from 12 countries were among the top 10 and ties after the first round, a record for a major championship. The previous mark was 11 at the 1997 Open, the 2002 Open, the 2006 Open and the 2014 PGA.
The honour of European golfers was upheld by Matthieu Pavon in the second round. His 65 was the second-lowest score of the morning, moving him to 6-under par through 36 holes.
Rai is distinctive in the world of male professional golfers for his deliberate pace of play and having some idiosyncrasies. For the word deliberate some of his peers might say slow.
No doubt he will be even more meticulous about moving spectators out of the way in potentially dangerous situations in the future. And I will be more careful where I stand.
He fidgets a lot over the ball, leaning over it with both hands behind his back when assessing a putt as well as using the AimPoint method. Having addressed his ball on a green he puts his left hand onto his right shoulder and keeps it there for three or four seconds before returning it to the grip of his putter.
He wears a glove on each hand when he plays from tee to green, none when he putts and one on his left hand when he is in a bunker. Eccentric as this sounds, he has his reasons. He finds that not having a glove on his right hand when he is playing from sand helps him open the palm of his hand to the sky as he makes contact with the ball and thus gets the ball up in the air.
This is Rai’s third appearance at a PGA Championship. He missed the cut at Kiawah Island in 2021 and tied for 39th at Valhalla in 2024. His best two finishes in the eight major championships in which he has played to date are joint 19th in the 2021 Open Championship and 2024 US Open.
“I would give myself a 6½ [out of 10] for my performance today,” Rai, 30, said after his round of 72, 1 over par. And one that contained four bogeys, one double bogey and five birdies. “It could have been worse but it could have been better, too. There were a couple of good par saves on 17 and 18.”
He didn’t need to repeat his apology for that second shot on the 16th. That went without saying.
No doubt he will be even more meticulous about moving spectators out of the way in potentially dangerous situations in the future.
And I will be more careful where I stand.