Aaron Rai won the first major title of his career at the PGA Championship at Aronimink in May.
Rai was obviously in dreamland after he sealed the PGA Championship title, and Jack Nicklaus seemingly made the whole experience even more surreal for the Englishman.
The 31-year-old from Wolverhampton has improved beyond all recognition over the past year or so, and now he’s a genuine threat to win every major he enters.
Aaron Rai is one of the most popular players in the professional game due to his down-to-earth attitude and his amiable nature.
Jack Nicklaus, another one of golf’s true gentlemen, is clearly a huge fan of the Englishman, as evidenced by his actions.
Aaron Rai reveals what Jack Nicklaus did after he won the PGA Championship
Rai received huge praise for his PGA Championship win from many of his peers and golf fans alike.
He addressed the media at Royal Birkdale on Tuesday afternoon.
And the Englishman opened up on a real class act from Jack Nicklaus after his win at Aronimink.
“After the PGA I received a handwritten letter from Jack Nicklaus, which was kind of surreal when we opened the mail,“ Rai admitted.
“Yeah, for someone like that to take the time to write to me after the PGA, it definitely shows the class of what Jack is about.
“Then on a separate note of last week, again, it just felt like the right thing to do. It was Pablo Larrazabal.
“We’ve played quite a bit together in the past. It was the first that I’d heard he’d been struggling a little bit during the season, so it felt like just the right thing to do. So that’s where it came from really.“
That really was a class act from Mr. Nicklaus, and it just goes to show how much Rai is appreciated not only as a golfer, but as a person as well.
Aaron Rai has already cemented his legacy in the game
Rai is one of the most grounded golfers on the PGA Tour.
The fact that he still uses iron covers in order to protect the equipment that he cherishes so dearly says so much about him as a person.
Rai comes from a working class background and he was brought up with really honorable values.
That sound grounding in life has enabled Rai to approach his professional golfing career with one of the strongest work ethics around.
The challenge now for Aaron Rai will be to go on and win more majors, but even if he doesn’t, he can be content that he always goes about doing things in the right way.
And not every professional golfer can say that.
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