PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
5 Standing on a stick Watch Rai on the range, and you'll no- tice every three to five golf balls he takes a break to stand on an alignment stick on the ground. “It’s a balance check. I want to check to make sure the stick and my weight run right through about the middle of my foot," Rai explains. "I don't want the weight too much on my toes or heels. I want to make sure I'm very balanced at setup." 6 Ball in the middle of his stance The traditional advice is to play the ball inside your left heel at setup with your driver. That helps you hit up on the ball to maximise distance. Rai, true to form, doesn't do that. He plays the ball back – almost in the middle of his stance. It started as a technical adjust- ment that forced him to rotate his body instead of flipping his hands. He keeps doing it now because the results are low-rising bullets. 7 His hips ‘stop’ mid-swing Ask Rai about his own swing, and he'll pinpoint one thing that looks different that he's never quite understood. "About halfway through the release, my hips almost start coming backwards a little bit," Rai explains. "I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing. The ball's already gone at that point, so I'm not sure it matters, but it's something that's been in my swing for a long time." It's not a bad thing. Rory McIlroy's hips did something similar. It hap- pens when a golfer has strong oblique muscles that contract forcefully, temporarily reversing the direction of your hip turn. 8 Me and My Golf logo Rai wears a Me and My Golf logo on his hat and shirt. That’s because he's been working with the two coaches behind it, Andy Proudman and Piers Ward, since he was 11 years old. They decided to sponsor him early in his pro career, and Rai has been loyal to them – both as a student and sponsor – ever since.
2 Covers for his irons You've probably heard this one before, too. Rai puts iron covers on his irons. It's a move that's almost universally ridiculed, but Rai does it for a genuinely heart-warming reason. "It started from age 4, when my dad used to pay for my equipment. He paid for my membership, paid for my entry fees. It wasn't money that we re- ally had, to be honest, but he'd always buy me the best clubs. When we used to go out and practice, he used to clean every single groove afterwards with a pin and baby oil, and to protect the golf clubs he thought it would be good to put iron covers on them. And I've pret- ty much had iron covers on all my sets ever since, just to kind of appreciate the value of what I have." 3 Pink castle tees Rai uses castle tees of various colours instead of traditional wood tees. Wood tees look normal, but Rai doesn't care. He uses these tees because they have a little platform, which guarantees he tees the ball up the same height every time. 4 Dot on golf ball Rai only uses golf balls with "1" on them, but that's a common superstition on tour. He marks his ball with a line, but also places a small dot in the middle of that line. Why? Well, the line is for alignment, and after he uses that to align his putter, he focuses his eyes on that tiny little dot. It's a method known as "quiet eye" – and it helps.
8 Quirky things Aaron Rai does BY LUKE KERR-DINEEN
I love golfers like Aaron Rai, because they do a series of things that can only
be described as "quirky." Some people crack jokes about those things, but golf- ers like Rai, the new PGA champion, don't care about that. They only care about playing better golf. And if doing something slightly unusual helps them play better golf, then who cares what it looks like or what other people say about it. Because for whatever reason, it works. It's an attitude the rest of us can learn from. And as for how it mani- fests in Rai's game: 1 He wears two rain gloves This one is the most obvious to anyone who watches. Most golfers wear one leather glove on their left hand. Every now and again a golfer comes along wearing no gloves. There's only been one golfer (Tommy Gainey) that I can think of who wore two gloves. Rai goes one step further than that: He wears two rain gloves. The reason why is ob- vious: It gives him better grip. A compa- ny sent him a pair, he tried them, liked them, wore them ever since.
See Aaron Rai Swing Analysis on Pages 40 and 41
22 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRIC A
JUNE 2026
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