Newly-crowned PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai revealed shock news from the PGA of America that delivery of the famed Rodman Wannamaker victory trophy has been delayed as the trophy needed urgent repairs.
There was no explanation as to what repairs are needed only that Rai will be delivered the trophy when its been all repaired.
Rae became only the second England golfer in 107 years to win the PGA Championship thanks to his impressive three-shot success last week at the Aronimink course in Philadelhia.
The 31-year-old was seen beaming alongside wife Gaurika Bishnoi Rai, relishing his first major win but in speaking with members of the media late yesterday he revealed he hasn’t yet been able to display the famed trophy at home.
SHOCK NEWS …
As newly-crowned @PGAChampionship winner Aaron Rai has been advised famed Rodman Wanamaker has been delayed in delivery to Rai as it is need of repairs
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✅️ @TOURMISS pic.twitter.com/nWuLzWJ9jV
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) May 22, 2026
“I’m not sure what exactly happened,” Rai said. “But there was just a little bit of damage towards the top of the trophy, which they wanted to fix before it went anywhere.”
Rai posed for photos alongside Gary Player, the last man to win the Wannamaker Trophy at Aronomink, on Sunday and revealed the snippet of advice the nine-time major champion gave to him.
“He said not to change anything within the game,” Rai added. “That you do a lot of things really well. So that was really good to hear from someone like that.”
When the trophy does finally arrive, Rai will hold the original until next year’s tournament at PGA Frisco.
He will then be handed a replica to keep.
Rai, described by many fellow players as one of the hardest working on the PGA Tour, was not among the pre-tournament favorites to win at Aronimink.
“The one thing that was a really big catalyst, was just feeling healthy body-wise, probably over the last four weeks or so,” Rai said of his winning performance last weekend.
“That then enabled a bit more normality in terms of practice routines, in terms of getting out on the course, in terms of getting back into the gym a little bit more.
“I think just being able to have some consistency over the last, probably four weeks, was really important in continuing to build.”
And as the winner of an impressive $3.69 million first prize, and boosting his total PGA Tour earnings to just over $16m, the 31-year-old is staying humble.
“Honestly, that’s something that I haven’t really thought of just yet,” Rai said, when asked if he plans to treat himself after the win.
“I think, for me personally, I have a really nice house in Jacksonville that I’ve been at for three years now, which I absolutely love.
“I imported my car from the UK three years ago and I wouldn’t change that for anything. So nothing really comes to my mind for myself.
“I would like to get a couple of my family members something, but I wanted to also be thoughtful, rather than just something that is worth ‘X’ amount.”
