Aaron

Rai

The Englishman swallowed two bogeys and a double bogey in the first four holes but didn’t hang his head. He responded with birdies on eight of his final 12 holes played. “So there are a lot of good things that went into today that hopefully we can take moving forward. But it’s funny, the more you try and force it and impose it on coming days, the less it seems to happen. So we’ll definitely take the positives and just try and approach the rounds with the right kind of mindset. Stay patient. Just see what happens, really.” Rai arrived with missed cuts in four of his last five starts but a T12 finish in the other event (Charles Schwab Challenge). Rai co-led the morning wave in fairways hit (12) and led in strokes gained approach (+3.7). If this co-lead holds then it would be his third time posting a first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR (52nd/2023 Farmers Insurance Open; T48/2023 RBC Heritage).

Rai poked his head into contention during a home game at TPC Sawgrass last week. He was T4 thru 54 holes before fading to T19 on Sunday. He jumped from 92nd to 78th in the FedExCup race but won’t add any points this week. Gamers should be willing to hop back on the train when he returns to action. As for Percy, he has a DQ and two missed cuts in three tries at the Valspar.

The Englishman piped 11-of-14 fairways and pelted 16 GIR. He turned eight of those into birdies without carding a single bogey. Rai posted a top 10 at the Farmers last year in his debut and spoke about his comfort in the San Diego conditions. “I think the temperature and also how the wind affects the ball is a little closer to what I would have grown up with in the U.K. The ball doesn’t travel quite as far here compared to other places in America. The wind feels a little bit heavier also. So I guess I just see the shots a little bit clearer.” Currently tied at the top, this will be his first time leading or co-leading after any round on the PGA TOUR.

The Englishman continued to flash his tidy short game at Memorial Park. He gained 1.2 strokes around-the-green during the final round, ending the weke ranked 1st in the category (+8.1). It was a well-needed performance after landing just 40 GIR for the week (T94). This will go in the books as his third career top-10 finish on the PGA TOUR but he’s still searching for his first podium finish. Rai will look to keep the momentum rolling next week at Sea Island, as he’s on the early field list for The RSM Classic.

The South African, who was to make his fourth appearance in the championship, claimed his lone PGA TOUR title on debut at last season’s Barracuda in his 41st career start. That Barracuda, played opposite the WGC-FedEx St. Jude, is being played this week opposite The Open, and he (understandably) chose not to defend in lieu of qualifying for the season’s final major. Unfortunately, the 32-year-old, who arrived off a missed cut by four at last week’s Scottish Open (75-72), his fifth straight MC on TOUR, could not go this week, while Englishman and TOUR rookie Rai will make his second appearance after a major-best T19 last year at Royal St. George’s (70-69-68-69) in the motherland. Rai, 27, checked in off a MC by five at the Scottish (71-77), a T9 the week prior at the Horizon Irish Open, and will be in Game 39 (1:48 pm local) with Kevin Na and major debutant Kazuki Higa. Noteworthy for van Rooyen, beside his current MC streak, is that he also withdrew three weeks ago prior the Travelers, as well as prior to the Byron Nelson back in May, so there is definitely something amiss going on here.

The 39-year-old Dinwiddie carded rounds of 71-70 to finish at 3-under 141, and he’ll be joined in the field at St. Andrews by Ireland’s David Carey, who won medalist honors with rounds of 68-69 (7 under), Netherlands’ Lars Van Meijel (67-75) and England’s Alex Wrigley (73-69). Van Meijel and Wrigley advanced via a 3-for-1 playoff that included Englishman Aaron Rai (72-70), who fell out after a bogey in sudden death. “It’s absolutely a dream come true, it really is,” said the 32-year-old Wrigley. “It was an up-and-down day and I hit a nice chip shot on my 16th hole that managed to go in for eagle and then I was really nervous coming in and nervous in the playoff. To hole a couple of nice 3- to 4-footers on the last couple of holes is really sweet. It won’t sink in for a while (reaching The 150th Open), but it’ll sink in when I’m there.” A total of 16 players earned their spots for the final major of the year through qualifying on Tuesday at four locations including Hollinwell Golf Club, Prince’s Golf Club and St. Annes Old Links.

If this lead/co-lead holds up, it would be the Englishman’s first lead/co-lead after any round on the PGA TOUR in 80 rounds. Of the 77 players who are in the house, his is one of only three that managed their way around TPC Potomac error-free, joining Brendan Steele (68) and Chez Reavie (69). Beginning on 10 tee, the 27-year-old striped 12 (of 14) fairways and landed 13 greens in regulation, gaining ground in all strokes gained metrics, including a 3.881 tee-to-green and 1.140 with the flat stick. He ticked five birdies at 13, 14, 2, 7 and 9, each from inside of 11 feet, highlighted by a long of 10'8" for a walk-off 2, and post-round (link below), credited his recent surge in form to a trip back home to the U.K. to see his dad and coaches.

The Englishman owns two top 10s on TOUR in 24 events, a T6 individually at the Farmers eight starts ago, where he was T3 after 54 holes, and a T4 last week teamed with fellow two-time European Tour winner David Lipsky at the Zurich Classic. After opening with bogey-free 65, he was one back of six co-leaders, dipped to four adrift after R2, and now sits five off the pace after a second straight 69. At the three-quarter pole, the 27-year-old has tallied one eagle and 11 birdies against three bogeys, and is in positive territory in all strokes gained metrics, including a best of 9th Off-the-Tee (3.361), and a 43rd in Around-the-Green (1.488) and a 41st in Putting (0.757), -0.014 SGP today.

The Englishman arrived fresh off a T4 at last week’s team event, the Zurich Classic. He’s lost his partner but maintained that momentum on day one in Mexico. Rai split 10-of-13 fairways and pelted 15 greens in regulation today, keeping things relatively stress-free. The highlight of his day came at the par-5 14th when he stuffed his 246-yard approach inside of three feet for a kick-in eagle. He’s been T9 or better after round one of three events this season and has a chance to make it four after today, depending on the afternoon scoring.