Aaron Rai has put himself in a position to pick up what would be a life changing major championship win on Sunday at Aronimink Golf Club.
And he did so while being the only man in the field wearing two golf gloves.
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Rai posted a 3-under 67 on Saturday at the PGA Championship. That got him to 4-under on the week, and briefly had him in the solo lead during what turned out to be a very chaotic and jam-packed leaderboard at the major championship.
Wearing two gloves is nothing new for Rai, who has been doing this for years. The Englishman wears both of them for every shot, except for when he’s putting or hitting out of a bunker.
It turns out that’s just a thing Rai started doing randomly when he was just eight years old, partly out of necessity while practicing in colder weather to keep his hands warm. Then it just stuck.
“I just happened to be given these two gloves — the guy who actually makes them sent a pair over — and I got into the habit of wearing them,” Rai told GolfMonthly in 2025. “Then, a few weeks down the line, my dad forgot to put the two gloves in the bag so I had to play with one. It was terrible. I couldn’t play, I couldn’t feel the grip, so I’ve always stuck with the two gloves ever since.”
Rai was nearly the solo leader entering Sunday, but he fell apart a bit on the 18th. Rai missed the fairway off the tee and then hit his next shot into a bunker. He ended up getting up-and-down to save his bogey and limit the damage, but that brought him into a five-way tie for the lead when he hit the clubhouse.
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Matti Schmid, Nick Taylor, Jon Rahm and Ludvig Åberg were also at 4-under when Rai finished. Rory McIlroy led the massive group at 3-under. The tournament is still very much wide open.
Rai has only won a single time on the PGA Tour, back at the Wyndham Championship in 2024. He entered this week fresh off a fifth-place finish at the Myrtle Beach Classic, which was the alternate Tour stop during the Truist Classic. The 31-year-old is at No. 44 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He finished T19 at the PGA Championship last May, which matched the best major championship finish of his career.
Only time will tell if Rai can manage to separate from the field on Sunday. Nobody has been able to pull that off so far.
But the two gloves are here to stay. Clearly, it’s working out for him.
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