Aaron Rai Didn't Beat Himself... and Won $3.9 Million Instead

“The object of golf is to beat someone. Make sure that someone is not yourself.” – Bobby Jones

Going into the fourth and final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday at historic Aronimink Golf Club, the leaderboard was filled with marque players. Although Alex Smalley and Matti Schmid were leading the pack at -6 and -4, respectively, hot on their heels were future World Golf Hall of Famers Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Scottie Scheffler... and a young up and comer named Ludvig Aberg of Sweden.

Also in the mix were major winners such as Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Smith, and Jordan Spieth. A little further back was former U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, both of whom closed with a final round 65.

The smart money was on McIlroy, Rahm, or Scheffler. After all, Rory and Scottie had won four of the last five majors, so they had proven their ability to handle the sometimes-suffocating pressure of a major championship. But McIlroy simply couldn’t find the fairway, and Rahm and Scheffler couldn’t buy a clutch putt when they needed one. In other words, they beat themselves.

Meanwhile, a 31-year-old golfer from England named Aaron Rai started the final round as a mere afterthought. And when he bogeyed the 6th and 8th holes to go 1-over on his round, it looked like he had no chance. But Rai bounced back with an eagle on the 9th hole and then put on a shot-making clinic on the back nine, hitting every fairway and every green in regulation. Rai tallied four birdies in his last eight holes, one of them by draining a 68-foot putt, to win the coveted Wanamaker Cup.

My friend, you and I may never know what it’s like to win a major golf championship (and $3.9 million) in front of tens of thousands of cheering fans and tens of millions of TV viewers. However, we can all identify with “beating ourselves” from time to time. Maybe we give in to a bad habit – like overeating or using profanity – or fall back into a previous addiction such as smoking, drinking, drugging, gambling, or pornography. And then – as if that isn’t bad enough – we beat ourselves up over our sinfulness and lack of willpower. Good guilt, the kind that brings us to true repentance, is a positive thing. But bad guilt, the type that Satan uses to remind us of our sinful past after we’ve confessed it and received Christ’s forgiveness, is negative and destructive.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President