Aaron Rai reveals Jack Nicklaus mailed him a letter after PGA Championship win
· Yahoo Sports
A routine trip to the mailbox turned into a special memory recently for Aaron Rai.
Visit newsbetting.club for more information.
He became the first Englishman in more than a century to win the PGA Championship, when he played the final 10 holes in 6 under at Aronimink to claim his first major title. This week, he returns to England to take on the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in Southport, one of numerous Brits who will be fan favorites throughout the week.
Last week, a story went viral about Rai leaving a hand-written note for DP World Tour pro Pablo Larrazabal, who has struggled in 2026 but is a nine-time winner. After speaking on the range Monday at the Genesis Scottish Open, Rai had his brother print out pictures of Larrazabal holding trophies and placed them at his locker with a note of encouragement.
"We've played quite a bit together in the past," Rai said. "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."
Where did Rai get the inspiration? Perhaps it came from the player with more majors than anyone else in the game.
Rai revealed Jack Nicklaus wrote him a hand-written letter and mailed it after the PGA, and that it was a surprise to grab his mail and see a letter from the Golden Bear amongst the litter.
"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," Rai said.
Nicklaus is notorious for writing letters, as was Arnold Palmer and others. Jack also penned a note to J.J. Spaun after his victory in the U.S. Open at Oakmont in 2025.
Rai called it surreal being on the receiving end of one of Nicklaus' letters. Safe to say that one is going to be displayed next to the Wanamaker Trophy for a while.
Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Aaron Rai reveals Jack Nicklaus mailed him a letter after PGA Championship win