When it came time to emerge from the shadows, to escape the logjam, Aaron Rai – a 31-year-old Englishman of Indian/Kenyan heritage – proved the most capable of all in capturing the 108th US PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, brilliantly constructing a final round 65 for a winning total of nine-under-par 271.In the heat of Pennsylvania, with temperatures hitting 30 degrees, Rai remained cool, calm and collected to take control of his own destiny, posting an eagle on the ninth to kick-start his march to glory and sealing the deal with a massive 63-footer for birdie on the 17th, his fourth birdie of the back nine.That audacious birdie on 17 was out of sync with how Rai had carefully plotted his way around the course, recovering from an unsettled start – which saw him bogey three times and birdie twice in the first eight holes – before that eagle enabled him to turn in 34 and then he moved up a gear to come home in 31 strokes, taking control and moving away so that he ultimately had three shots to spare over runners-up Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley.Justin Thomas had made an early charge in posting a 65 for 275 before most of the leading contenders set forth in their bids to lift the Wanamaker Trophy, yet those later starters would find it difficult to make such inroads ... with the exception of Rai, who – after a difficult start – ignited his round with an eagle on the par 5 ninth and mercilessly worked his way through the back nine, with four birdies, to separate himself from allcomers.Thomas – who would finish tied-fourth alongside Ludvig Aberg and Matti Schmid – may have shown the way, but only Rai was able to follow.Smalley, the 54-hole leader, played conservative par golf until undone by a double-bogey six on the sixth hole. He would eventually recover, claiming an eagle on the 16th, but too late to disrupt Rai’s party, although a birdie on the 18th for a 70 for 274 saw him join Rahm in a share of second.Rory McIlroy finished with a 69 for four-under 276, in tied-seventh. While McIlroy’s driver was long if not particularly straight, playing many of his approach shots in the final round from the rough, the regret was not only with the big stick but also with a putter that refused to take advantage of a number of birdie chances. After his birdie on the second, the Northern Irishman didn’t manage another until 14th which followed a bogey on the drivable par 4 13th which truly summed up his plight. A failure to birdie the par 5 16th summed it up. He had played the par 5s in even par for the week.Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on during the final round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club. Photograph: Carl Recine/Getty Reflecting on his round, he said: “I think not birdieing the two par-5s and making the bogey at the drivable par-4 13th [were at fault]. To me I felt like I played the golf I needed to play the rest of the way. If I birdied the two par-5s and turned that 5 into a 3 on 13, the day looks very different.”McIlroy and Xander Schauffele were paired together and only got to watch each others’ difference woes in their quests to play catchup: the pair each signed for 69s for 276, in tied-seventh, cast five shots adrift of the champion.“He’s always in the gym. He’s always on the range ... I think that’s what it’s about to be a major champion. You put the work in when nobody’s looking,” said Schauffele in acknowledging Rai’s journey, from mini-tour through the Challenge Tour on to the DP World Tour and to the PGA Tour in a progressive route which demonstrated his progress.Rai – the first English winner of the PGA championship going back to Jim Barnes’ win in 2019 – has won on the European Tour three times, including last year’s Abu Dhabi Championship, and secured a breakthrough win on the PGA Tour when winning the Wyndham Championship in 2024.His US PGA Championship success, and the manner of it, elevated Rai to a new level and also very much into Europe captain Luke Donald’s plans for next year’s Ryder Cup at Adare Manor while also giving him five-year exemptions into the Masters, the US Open and The Open along with a lifetime exemption into the PGA.