The Japan Times - Humble PGA champ Rai celebrates English, Indian, Kenyan heritage

The 31-year-old became the first English golfer since Jim Barnes in 1919 to capture the PGA crown, making four birdies and an eagle in the last 10 holes to produce a four-stroke victory at Aronimink.

"It definitely feels like a journey," Rai said. "So much goes into it, from being a junior golfer to developing the game to have aspirations of turning professional. Then you realize once you turn professional how good some of these guys are."

Rai's father is of Indian ancestry while his mother has Kenyan heritage and growing up in England has made him a mix of all their cultures.

"I'm very proud to be from England. That's where I grew up. That's where a lot of my family still live," Rai said.

"I'm very proud of India and Kenya as well. My mom still spends a lot of time in Kenya. Both of my sets of grandparents from my mom and dad's side were from India.

"I'm very proud of representing all three really. I don't know what all that represents or how it's going to come across. All I can say is I'm very proud to be a mix of all of them."

He learned about being a good man and humble from family and golf.

"A lot of that has come from upbringing," Rai said. "Golf was always a very big part of my life from a very young age, but my mom and my siblings were very fast to reinforce the importance of just being a good person and trying to do the right things.

"Golf in itself is an extremely humbling game. There's so much hard work and discipline that goes into acquiring the skills to become better."

Work ethic was instilled by family as well.

"My dad instilled the importance of work and dedication and trying to consistently build just good, strong habits around the game," Rai said.

"My mom worked extremely hard away from golf. She worked a couple of jobs at one time and she did a lot of work around the house.

"There was a lot of consistent messaging of hard work. It has been something I've just grown up with and I guess as I've got older, something that I've really valued and tried to continue to move forward with."

- 'Real support system' -

Rai's wife, Gaurika Bishnoi, is a pro golfer from India whose advice in a car ride to the hotel lingered with him on the course.

"She has been incredible," Rai said. "I wouldn't be here without her, both as a companion, as a friend, as someone I'm sharing my life with, but also as a real support system for my game.

"Her mindset, her advice, her thoughts, whether it's technique or the way I'm holding myself, is absolutely invaluable."

Asked how they will celebrate his victory, she said, "He'll probably have Chipotle," and he added, "I do love Chipotle on the road, so we'll probably go to Chipotle."

And when it comes to golf bragging rights, Rai admitted, "We practice quite a lot together. Honestly she beats me more times than I beat her."

Rivals saluted Rai's work ethic and character.

"Rarely do you feel like people work way harder than you," said two-time major winner Xander Schauffele. "Aaron is always there. He's always in the gym. He's always on the range.

"I think that's what it's about to be a major champion. You puts the work in when nobody's looking."

Rai relished the praise.

"There are a lot of guys who work extremely hard," Rai said. "That's a prerequisite of what's just required to try and compete out here.

"Very reaffirming to know the things we're doing are working and leading to continued development."

K.Abe--JT