'Pretty surreal'

The magnitude of what it means to be a major winner only hit Aaron Rai when he was going through his post.

Spending some much-needed recuperation time at home in Florida following his breakthrough PGA Championship triumph at Aronimink earlier this year, Rai opened a note and swiftly needed a sit down.

“After the PGA, I received a handwritten letter from Jack Nicklaus, which was kind of surreal when we opened the mail,” he said.

“For someone like that to take the time to write to me, it definitely shows the class of what Jack is about.”

Rai, a humble 31-year-old from Wolverhampton, has become known for similar touches of class himself.

Just this month, he left a note in the locker of Pablo Larrazabal, who was in the midst of a poor run of form, telling him to keep believing, attached to a photo of Larrazabal receiving a trophy in happier times.

“We have played quite a bit together in the past,” Rai said. “It just felt like the right thing to do.”

Such a gesture chimes with the stories of Rai refusing to forget his roots.

Tales of his iron covers and playing with two gloves went viral in the wake of his PGA triumph, with the continued presence of the former attributed to reminding him of the sacrifices his parents made when he was growing up.

His father, Amrik, would clean every groove of a young Rai’s clubs with a pin and baby oil before placing the covers on them, which remain to this day.

Amrik joined Aaron during his practice round on Tuesday morning as he continues to get to grips with the challenges Royal Birkdale will bring.

This is Rai’s fifth visit to The Open and his best finish remains the T19 he recorded on debut at Royal St George’s in 2021.

Before, he has arrived without much in the way of fanfare – even sleeping overnight in a campervan as a reserve before benefiting from a withdrawal and appearing at The 150th Open four years ago.

Rai is no longer under the radar. Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka are his playing partners for the first two rounds. Rai’s name has been added to the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose when discussion turns to ending the 34-year wait for an English winner of The Open.

“There is always pressure every single week, no matter what tournament it is,” he said. “I think most of that is self-imposed.

“Some of it is where you're playing and what event that it is. This is a huge event in its own right, there is always that element of pressure that is there.

“I try not to view it too differently to most weeks. The challenges of what it presents are different to a lot of weeks, and that has to be prepared for. I don't feel a huge amount more pressured than what I am used to.”

Rai is one of 21 English golfers in the field this week. All of them grew up dreaming of holding a winning putt at The Open, and they each have their own defining memories of watching this championship.

For Rai, the earliest of those is tuning into David Duval’s victory in 2001, not too far away from here at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

He does not wish to define himself by his achievements and is still adjusting to life under the increased glare of spotlight that silverware brings.

But that does not take away from what more success this week would mean.

“After the PGA, there was a tweet from the Royal Family,” he said. “That's huge. And an impact that is way bigger than golf.

“That maybe put into perspective that maybe it reached an audience that was wider than just the game. I couldn't quite believe that when I saw it.

“I am extremely proud of the achievement. It is a huge accomplishment. Internally, seeing my relationship to the game over the past couple of months, even after achieving something as big as what that is, I still have the same enjoyment, passion and application to the game.

“That is something that is hard to really know is going to be there until you experience certain achievements, of what are you actually doing all of this for. So that's been very satisfying as well.”

Rai is not as familiar with Royal Birkdale as some of his compatriots. He only saw it for the first time two weeks ago, in which time it has gone from ‘quite lush’ to baked and brown as the sunshine has made itself at home.

“It is a brilliant golf course,” he said. “It plays phenomenally.

“It's a great layout and it's a real iconic Open venue. It will be a true test of golf. I'm looking forward to getting started.”

He is not the only one. And should Rai reproduce his Aronimink form this week, Golden Bear might have to reach for his pen and paper once more.