MIND / JOURNEYS M
‘I turned Pro when I was 17. I wasn’t ready’ I missed my first four cuts. I had a lot to learn, but I saw how accurate I was. I picked up on the little things By Aaron Rai with Keely Levin N o one in my family played golf. My dad, Amrik, was a ten- nis player and says my tennis stroke looked more like a golf swing, so he got me plastic clubs. I played my first tourna- ment when I was 4 years old. The age group was 12 and un- der. I had many family members watching. I won the nett division and finished second gross. I played in tournaments every month after that. It didn’t take long for me to know I wanted to pursue golf.
2017, my mum came with me to the Kenya Open, her first time back since she was 14. She came onto the 18th green when I won. It was Mother’s Day in the UK. It was the most memorable moment of my career. ● ● ● I moved up to the European Tour where I won the 2020 Scottish Open in a playoff with Tommy Fleetwood. In golf you lose over 95 percent of the time. Having that small percentage where it goes the other way is invaluable. I tend not to look at leader boards. Instead, I try to completely focus on the process at hand. ● ● ● Because of my finishes in 2020, I got into the PGA Championship, two WGC events and the Open. I played solid, which got me into the top 200 in FedEx Cup points, which then got me into the Korn Ferry finals where I finished third and got my PGA Tour card. It took me a couple of hours to internalise what I had done. ● ● ● As a pro I haven’t always played well, but I’ve seen enough to know I can hang around. Being in a late group on Sundays with big and loud crowds is what I aim for. I need to keep putting myself in that position because you can’t simulate it. Last June I played in the final group on Sunday with Akshay Bhatia at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. We both shot 72 and lost by one to Cam Davis. Six weeks later I had a closing 64 to win the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina in my 89th start on the PGA Tour. That took me all the way to the Tour Championship. ● ● ● A lot of the crowd don’t know me. The fact I don’t have any social media ac- counts probably accounts for that. Social media amplifies the highs and the lows. That’s not an environment that I want to expose myself to. I don’t really see how it’s going to help my golf. ● ● ● I still use iron covers. It’s the little things in life, the interactions that peo- ple have with one another, the gestures, the thoughts, the moments that reinforce character. It all adds up to build some- thing strong. I don’t want to lose sight of what’s important. Although I have access to plenty of equipment now, it’s the mes- sage and the meaning behind those iron covers that keep me using them.
We were a working-class family. My mum, Dalvir, immigrated to England from Kenya with her family as a teen- ager. She has had many jobs, from men- tal-health nurse to aerobics instructor. My dad was a community worker who was born in England but whose family immigrated from India. My dad read golf books to learn about the swing. ● ● ● He bought me a set of Titleist 690 MBs when I was 7, which were the top Titleist clubs at that time. I prac- tised every day, in all weather. When the clubs got muddy, my dad used a pin to clean every groove. Then he’d put baby oil on the face to prevent rust. He bought me iron covers to protect them. I learned early to value what I had. ● ● ● For guidance, my dad leaned on Shaun Ball, a coach at the par-3 course where I practised. Ball said, “Put Aaron in different situations and let him figure it out.” That was empow- ering. When I turned 12, I started work- ing with Andy Proudman and Piers Ward. They still coach me. ● ● ● My dad reached out to local papers to raise awareness and maybe some funding for my golf. A man reached out asking if I’d try his gloves. They
were all-weather, and I’d wear one on each hand. I loved them. At practice, I forgot one and had to play with one glove. It was awful. I’ve played with two for 20 years, still that same brand: Macwet. ● ● ● Shabir Randeree, owner of the first course I joined, became a close fam- ily friend. He funded my golf and my private high school education. Junior memberships were inexpensive. He helped me join different courses from a young age so that I would become ver- satile. He’s still my sponsor. ● ● ● I turned pro when I was 17. I talked to my parents and Shabir. We believed turning pro was the best way to learn, even though I probably wasn’t ready. ● ● ● It was lonely. I started on the EuroPro Tour. I missed the first four cuts. The guys out there were longer, had more awareness, better strategy, smarter shot selection and putted better. I had a lot to learn, but I saw how accurate I was. I picked up on little things they did. I lost my card two years in a row but got it back every year at Q school. ● ● ● Finally, I finished in the top five and graduated to the Challenge Tour. In
PHOTOGRAPH BY JENSEN LARSON
10 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JUNE 2025
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