Kathy Dyer, who was Aaron Rai's first form tutor at Wolverhampton Grammar School in 2006, remembers the golfer as an utterly determined youngster. The 31-year-old became the first English winner of the US PGA Championship in more than a century on Sunday, finishing three shots clear and earning £2.76 million.
Mrs Dyer, head of girls' games at the school, recalled that Rai's father would pick him up from school two or three times a week to take him to golf practice. At 16, Rai chose to pursue a professional golf career while continuing his education, attending A-level maths tutoring every Tuesday afternoon with deputy head Peter Hills.
Rai later invited Mr Hills and his son Michael to play golf with him as a gesture of thanks. Mrs Dyer noted that Rai set a world record at age 15 with 207 consecutive 10-foot putts, but remained humble and polite.
The school's head, Nic Anderson, interviewed Rai for a place in 2006 and described his father as his early supporter. Buckingham Palace congratulated Rai on an “extraordinary” victory, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called him a “history maker”.
