*Photo courtesy of John Gillooly / Wyndham Championship*

Aaron Rai secures his maiden PGA TOUR title

Written by Brad King
McConnell Golf, The Magazine: Fall/Winter 2024

In the end, the 85th edition of the Wyndham Championship at Greensboro’s Sedgefield Country Club may be remembered less for eventual champion Aaron Rai’s birdie on the 72nd hole to secure his first PGA TOUR victory, and more for Max Greyserman’s brutal collapse down the stretch.

During a memorable final round on a marathon Sunday, Greyserman fired a front-nine 31 to get to 19-under par for the tournament, appearing to be cruising toward his inaugural PGA TOUR win. After his approach shot from the fairway on the par-4 13th spun back perfectly into the hole for an eagle 2, Greyserman took a commanding four-shot lead to the 14th tee.

But then Greyserman sliced his tee shot right of the 14th fairway, where it struck a cart path and bounced high into the air, landing out of bounds. Playing his third shot from there, he hit into the rough again, challenged a cross bunker he couldn’t carry, and eventually carded a quadruple-bogey 8.

In the blink of an eye, his sizable lead vanished. Undeterred, the stoic Greyserman rallied with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th to regain a share of the lead. The spectators’ excitement was echoed by the CBS TV broadcast crew.

“How much fun is this?” asked commentator Trevor Immelman.

“Fantastic!” replied his on-air mate, Jim Nantz.

“36 holes and the final regular season event. We’ve got all sorts of stuff going on,” Immelman continued. “We’ve got the sun setting at a Donald Ross course. The shadows forming over these awesome, undulating green complexes…”

“And we’ve got two players tied,” Nantz added.

“Both of ‘em looking for their first win out here,” Immelman replied.

“Amazing,” said Nantz.

And that was before things really got wild. At the par-3 16th, Greyserman’s tee shot landed 45 feet from the cup, followed by a nicely weighted lag putt. Then, shockingly, his 3-footer for par lipped out. His come-backer from 3 feet lipped out, too.

By the time Greyserman mercifully sank his fourth putt for a double bogey, he found himself in an unfamiliar position—staring up at Rai, who was playing in the penultimate threesome of the final round, just ahead of Greyserman, and was now in front of him on the leaderboard.

“Being a PGA TOUR winner is truly a dream come true.” - Aaron Rai

Rai—a 29-year-old Englishman known for his quiet, methodical approach, as well as the two black, weatherproof gloves he’s sported on either hand for the past two decades—sealed the deal. On the 72nd hole, with darkness falling, he stuffed his 7-iron approach from 200 yards to less than 7 feet and calmly made the winning birdie putt.

“Being a PGA TOUR winner is truly a dream come true,” said Rai, who entered the Wyndham ranked No. 4 on tour in strokes gained total this year, trailing only Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schaufele, and Rory McIlroy. “To win on any professional golf tour is an incredible accomplishment. The PGA TOUR is the pinnacle of golf, and it’s amazing to be competing here week in, week out, but to have won a tournament is extremely special and something I’ll always remember.”

From left: SCC Superintendent Chad Cromer, Assistant Superintendent Sam Harris, Aaron Rai and Assistant Superintendent Tim Stroud.

Wednesday’s Pro-Am began under cloudy skies with light rain but brightened up as blue skies and sunshine emerged in the afternoon. Notable McConnell Golf participants included Alex Smalley from Sedgefield Country Club, Lucas Glover of Musgrove Mill Golf Club, and Akshay Bhatia and Chesson Hadley from The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation. McConnell brothers Will and Matt teamed up with Jordan Spieth and Joel Dahmen, while John McConnell caddied for his youngest son, Alex.

However, Tropical Storm Debby arrived overnight, leading to significant flooding and the cancellation of Thursday’s play. While Aaron Rai, whose Wyndham victory solidified his rising star status in professional golf, ultimately claimed the championship, the tournament’s unsung hero was Chad Cromer. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the agronomy team, who worked around the clock for 18-hour-plus days, the integrity of the Donald Ross-designed course was preserved, allowing play to resume with minimal delays and enabling spectators to return on Friday.

Their dedication garnered widespread praise from both players and officials. To manage the wet conditions, preferred lies were introduced, allowing players to lift, clean, and place their golf balls for the final three rounds. The tournament schedule was also condensed, with the last 36 holes completed on Sunday, demonstrating the team’s unwavering commitment to keeping the event on track with minimal disruption.

Rai took advantage of the unexpected day off on Thursday to unwind, visiting the local movie theater to watch “Deadpool & Wolverine.” “It was actually really nice to just take a day off,” he said. “I spent a while speaking to family, to my sister, to my mum, got some food, and went to the cinema, which is really rare on a Thursday.”

Beau Hossler | *Photo courtesy of Ryan Barnett / Wyndham Championship*

Beau Hossler, a 29-year-old pro from California by way of the University of Texas, said he felt antsy during the day off Thursday, parked in front of the television at his rental house watching “Game of Thrones.”

When the first round finally started on Friday, it became the “Beau Show,” as Hossler began his round with four consecutive birdies, followed by a tap-in eagle putt on the par-5 5th hole. He completed the outward nine with a 7-under par 28.

Hossler stepped to the 18th tee needing a birdie to tie Brandt Snedeker’s course-record 59. But his drive drifted left into the rough, and his approach shot found a greenside bunker. He scrambled for par to close out the round with a 60.

“When I birdied No. 15, I was 10 under. I knew it was a par 70, and I had a chance [at 59],” he said. “But No. 16 is not a great birdie opportunity. On No. 17, if you get it in the fairway, it’s a great opportunity. I hit a pretty good wedge shot there, but it just spun a little more than I thought.”

Hossler’s 60 was a career-best round for the eighth-year pro, who is still chasing his first PGA TOUR victory.

“I played really nicely,” Hossler said. “I drove it well, and probably the highlight of the round was my mid-irons. A few 6-irons I hit really close. I almost made a hole-in-one with a 5-iron. It was one of those days where it felt like everything went right.”

Billy Horschel shot an 8-under 62 in the first round and was alone in second place, while Nick Taylor was third after a 63. Five players were tied for fourth at 64.

Then, on Saturday, for the second consecutive round, a player flirted with matching Snedeker’s 59. A day after Hossler shot 60, Greyserman put together a 10-under round of his own. He needed to birdie the 18th hole for 59 but scrambled to make par and preserve his 60.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise,” Greyserman said. “I’ve had some good finishes early in the year, and I played well last year on the Korn Ferry. It’s just putting the pieces together and getting comfortable out here versus early in the season.”

Defending champion Lucas Glover made a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole, his sixth ace on the PGA TOUR. Glover shot rounds of 70 and 71, missing the cut. Joel Highsmith also made a hole-in-one at 12, his third of the season and a first on the PGA TOUR. Highsmith also missed the cut with rounds of 70 and 68.

Glover wasn’t alone on the wrong side of the line drawn at 4-under par. Former Wyndham Championship winners Snedeker, Webb Simpson, J.T. Poston, Camilo Villegas, Si-Woo Kim, and Kevin Kisner all missed the cut. Fan favorites Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Stewart Cink, Bill Haas, and Chesson Hadley also missed the cut.

By the time the second round of the Wyndham Championship was completed Sunday morning, PGA TOUR veteran Matt Kuchar had taken a one-stroke lead over playing partners Greyserman, Chad Ramey, and Cameron Young into the final round.

Rai said his experience playing “golf’s longest day”—the U.S. Open qualifier in early June—helped his approach to Sunday’s marathon day.

Max Greyserman | *Photo courtesy of Ryan Barnett / Wyndham Championship*

“[I] knew it was going to be an extremely long day. It’s rare that we play two rounds in one day, but having that [U.S. Open qualifier] experience and just kind of managing energy and also managing my time on a Saturday night with recovery and just trying to physically feel rested and energized going into today definitely helped there towards the end. I’m sure I’ll feel it when I go back to the hotel this evening, but I felt good energy-wise which was really nice.”

Rai’s victory lifted him to No. 22 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 25 in the FedEx Cup points, virtually guaranteeing his exemption into all of next season’s $20 million signature events and ensuring his first Masters appearance in April.

Born in Wolverhampton, England, to non-golfing Indian parents, Rai got into golf “by accident.” Playing in the house with his older brother’s hockey stick as a toddler, he gave himself a bruise on the forehead, prompting his mother to buy him some plastic golf sticks in an attempt to make things safer.

When his tennis-playing father gave him a racquet at age 2, his forehand looked more like a golf swing, so his father suggested he learn how to play golf. Eventually, a putting green was installed in the family’s backyard.

Rai became so proficient that at 15, he received a Lee Westwood putting aid, which was affiliated with an ad campaign challenging users to set a world record for holing consecutive 10-foot putts. “I think the previous record was 136,” said Rai, who proceeded to drain 207 consecutive 10-footers to break the mark.

He turned professional in 2014 and gradually made his mark on the European Tour (now known as the DP World Tour), securing his first win in 2018 at the Honma Hong Kong Open. Rai followed this up with a victory at the 2020 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, where he famously defeated Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff.

“Over the last couple of months, I recently started working with John Graham, and he’s helped me massively [with putting],” Rai said, attributing the key factors behind his bogey-free 64 on Sunday. “My dad’s helped me a lot as well with visualizing the putts better and seeing them in a slightly different way [. . .]. I think my short-game has also improved; my bunker play has gotten better. It just feels like a steady progression this year, with another layer of consistency added from last year and the previous year.”

On Sunday, in the fading light at Sedgefield Country Club, Rai had only 6 feet, 7 inches left on the 18th green for birdie after a textbook drive straight down the middle and a pristine approach from 200 yards. The man who once made 207 straight 10-footers took his two gloves off for the last time on a marathon 36-hole day and didn’t miss.

Sedgefield Showdown

Aaron Rai secures his maiden PGA TOUR title

FOLLOW US