{"id":591295,"date":"2026-05-18T21:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/591295\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T21:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:36:09","slug":"aaron-rais-us-pga-win-inspires-golfs-next-generation-in-wolverhampton-wolverhampton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/591295\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Rai\u2019s US PGA win inspires golf\u2019s next generation in Wolverhampton | Wolverhampton"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a real buzz and sense of pride at the 3 Hammers golf complex in Wolverhampton, the old stomping grounds of Aaron Rai, who on Sunday became the first Englishman since 1919 to win the US PGA Championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was the first major title of the 31-year-old\u2019s career and Rai described it as \u201ctruly a dream come true\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s phenomenal to think of how many things have gone into it and extremely rewarding to be stood here,\u201d he told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

For Rai\u2019s childhood coach Darren Prosser, who taught Rai for about two years, it was a proud moment. \u201cVery proud,\u201d he said. \u201cVery pleased for him and his family and it\u2019s great for golf to get one of the nice guys<\/a> winning it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosser, who teaches at his own academy in Kingswinford, recalled spotting Rai\u2019s talent early and said his dedication and hand-eye coordination was beyond his years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he went up playing on the golf course, he could play all the shots around the green,\u201d he said. \u201cHis work ethic, how hard he worked, and guided strongly by his father, Amrik.<\/p>\n

\u201cHitting golf shots for such a young age, like a 13-, 14-year-old kid would probably do,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew that he was going to be a serious player and [I am] just so delighted for him \u2013 he\u2019s such a lovely guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Golf coach Darren Prosser: \u2018I knew he was going to be a serious player.\u2019 Photograph: Fabio De Paola\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Rai\u2019s golfing passion appears to have started almost by accident when he suffered a nasty bruise on his head after playing with his older brother\u2019s hockey sticks. In search for a safer alternative, his mother, Dalvir, bought him plastic golf clubs.<\/p>\n

Rai paid credit to his parents and wife in a press conference after his win, describing how his father had quit his job to support his golfing career and been with him \u201cevery day that I went to practise from the age of four to five\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum has been absolutely incredible as well. She worked extremely long hours to just provide for the house,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t put into words how much they\u2019ve done in terms of support, the care and love. I wouldn\u2019t be here without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to becoming the first Englishman in 107 years to win the Wanamaker trophy on Sunday, Rai landed a $3.69m (\u00a32.75m) prize.<\/p>\n

Adam Rai Jr, six, and his dad at the 3 Hammers golf complex in Wolverhampton. Photograph: Fabio De Paola\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

His journey from Wolverhampton<\/a> to golfing history has already inspired six-year-old Adam Rai Jr, a keen golfer who started training at the 3 Hammers from the age of 18 months. Adam attends the golf club around three times a week and was lucky enough to meet Rai in November 2025.<\/p>\n

During the visit, Adam\u2019s dad cheekily told Rai\u2019s team they were related, because of their shared surname, and the family were able to meet the golfer and his family. Adam Sr said: \u201cHe\u2019s probably the most genuinely nice, calm very pleasant [person] to be around. Very welcoming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam met Aaron Rai last November. Photograph: Adam Rai<\/p>\n

Five months later, Adam Sr received a phone call out of the blue from Rai\u2019s father inviting the family to attend the Masters tournament in the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt [was] like winning the lottery,\u201d Adam Sr said. Describing his reaction to Rai\u2019s historic win, he said it was \u201creally emotional\u201d.<\/p>\n

Adam Jr\u2019s mother, Emma Blower, said Rai\u2019s win showed success was obtainable. \u201cSo we\u2019re saying: \u2018If Aaron can do it, you can do it,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Asked what impact Rai\u2019s win would have on him, Adam Jr said: \u201cDo more golf!\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosser and Adam Jr\u2019s trainer, Jess Warren, said Rai\u2019s win would encourage more people, from a diverse range of backgrounds, to consider taking part in the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing someone from the same training ground reach the top of world golf proves to young golfers that with dedication and practice, anything is possible,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n

Prosser added: \u201c[Rai] has been mega dedicated and come through the ranks, [and] it\u2019s nice to see that it can actually be done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was a real buzz and sense of pride at the 3 Hammers golf complex in Wolverhampton, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-591295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}