Golf champion Aaron Rai's former Wolverhampton teachers have fondly recalled his early days after his impressive win at the US PGA Championship.
Rai, who has connections to both Wombourne and Perton in South Staffordshire, finished three shots ahead of the competition, securing a prize of 3.69 million dollars (£2.76 million). The 31-year-old made history by becoming the first English winner of the US PGA in over a century on Sunday, May 17.
A Determined Youngster
His former form tutor, Kathy Dyer, remembered Rai as a determined young student who was often picked up by his father from school to head straight to golf practice. Dyer was Rai’s first form tutor when he joined Wolverhampton Grammar School in 2006. She described the then-11-year-old as “very much the same as what he is today – very quiet, very humble, very polite, just a true gentleman.”
Mrs Dyer, who is the head of girls’ games at the school, shared that Rai’s father would pick him up from the sports hall, likely during break time, two or three times a week. He would then take him off to play golf for the rest of the day.
When Rai turned 16, he faced a tough decision: whether to pursue a career in golf or continue with his education. To balance both, he came into school every Tuesday afternoon for A-level maths tutoring with the deputy head, Peter Hills, in his own time.
A Gesture of Gratitude
Later in his career, Rai invited Mr Hills and his son Michael to play golf with him at a local course as a gesture of thanks. Mrs Dyer added, “There’s a number of staff that follow golf. Aaron’s name is mentioned a lot in the staff common room. Obviously this morning it was huge. We’re very proud that he came to this school.”
She also recalled how the budding golf star set a world record at age 15 by making 207 consecutive 10-foot putts. “I remember that was a huge thing at the time. Our head at the time, who was a big golf fan, made a huge thing about it in assembly, but Aaron was still very humble, very quiet, and very, very polite.”
Supportive Environment
The school’s head, Nic Anderson, remembered interviewing Rai for a place at the school in 2006. He said, “We’re incredibly proud. He played golf all the time. His dad was very much his first and only supporter in the early days. And then, as he rose through the ranks, I know he had a number of coaches who influenced him.”
Anderson added, “But I’d hope, as a school, we were very supportive at the time for him to achieve what he has achieved. We haven’t made a big announcement this morning because, as you can imagine, we’re in exam season. So we haven’t had a big assembly, but as soon as we have a big assembly, we’ll be advertising the fact that a former student of the school has won a major.”
Recognition and Congratulations
The achievement has been widely celebrated. A post on the Royal Family's X account read: “Congratulations Aaron Rai on your extraordinary PGA Championship win!”
Sir Keir Starmer also congratulated Rai on his accomplishment, posting on X, formerly known as Twitter: “History maker. Congratulations Aaron Rai on your extraordinary win at the PGA Championship, the first English golfer to win for 107 years.”
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