Aaron Rai wins first PGA Tour title at Wyndham Championship as ...

20 days ago

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Aaron Rai wins first PGA Tour title at Wyndham Championship as

Max Greyserman blew a four-stroke lead in one hole and Aaron Rai took advantage.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Aaron Rai was the last man standing in near darkness at Sunday’s 36-hole endurance test, winning his first PGA Tour title at the Wyndham Championship thanks to a back-nine blow-up by Max Greyserman.

Rai, a 29-year-old Englishman who last won in 2020 on the DP World Tour, shot a bogey-free 6-under 64 in the final round at Sedgefield Country Club to claim a two-stroke victory.

“Truly a dream come true,” said Rai who signed for a 72-hole aggregate of 18-under 262. “An amazing achievement.”

But Greyserman was in the driver seat after holing out his second shot from 91 yards for eagle at the 13th hole to build a seemingly commanding four-stroke lead. Not so fast as it turned out. His tee shot at the 14th hole sailed right and bounced off the cart path and over a fence out of bounds.

“If that doesn’t hit the cart path, we’re probably in a different situation,” Greyserman said. “I’m probably making 5 at worse.”

Instead, he made an eight and his lead was gone in one hole.

Greyserman, a 29-year-old Tour rookie, regained the lead at 18 under with a two-putt birdie at No. 15 but he took four putts at the par-3 16th to make a double bogey and drop back to 16 under. Greyserman had been leading the field in putting for the week. He closed in 69 and finished alone in second.

“I played good enough to run away with it,” he said. “I’m just going to walk away with I played well enough to win…I’m going to walk away with more confidence, learn from the mistakes and grow from it.”

Rai, who opened with a pair of 65s and added a third-round 68, chased Greyserman with four birdies in a row starting at the third to climb to 16 under. He tacked on a birdie at No. 12 and then struggled together five straight pars. He said he wasn’t aware of Greyserman’s collapse until the 18th tee. His caddie told him, “Just play a good hole,” and he sank an 8-foot birdie putt at the last to clinch the win.

Rai has been knocking on the door with Top-20 finishes in five of his last six starts and three of them top 10s, including a T-2 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and a T-4 at the Genesis Scottish Open. This round seemed to be a longtime coming for Rai, who has made a habit of going out to the 18th green to congratulate Robert MacIntyre, the winner at the RBC Canadian Open, and Cam Davis at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

72nd hole pressure with the tournament on the line.

Aaron Rai shows no nerves with his approach. pic.twitter.com/5wzs0XIMMM

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 12, 2024

“Whether it’s me that wins or whether it’s someone else that wins, there’s a huge amount of work that goes into it and it’s an amazing journey that every single player is on,” Rai said. “When that culminates in a victory whether that’s the first victory or multiple victories, it’s very special for whoever that it is. I think everyone who’s playing on the Tour can appreciate how difficult it is to win and how difficult it is to even get to this stage.”

J.J. Spain fired a 64, the low score of the final round, and finished T-3 with Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune.

Victor Perez, who started the week as the “Bubble Boy” at No. 70 in the FedEx Cup standings, shot 68 and finished T-33 to hang on to the last spot in the 70-man playoffs, which begin next week in Memphis at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Tropical Storm Debby dumped more than six inches of rain on the course on Thursday postponing play. The 36-hole cut wasn’t made until Sunday morning and the 67 players had to play at least 36 holes. Only Matt Kuchar, who was in the last group and drove left at 18, elected to wait to complete his round on Monday. He’s 11 under and failed to make the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time since the playoffs debuted in 2007.