Aaron Rai has recorded a two-shot victory at the Wyndham Championship after Max Greyserman's dramatic collapse during the closing holes.
The Englishman had played second fiddle to one of the newcomers to the PGA Tour for much of the final round, the second to be played on Sunday as the tournament played catch up to bad weather.
However, holding a four-shot lead courtesy of an eagle at the 13th, Greyserman incredibly produced a quadruple bogey on the following hole to fall back level with Rai.
Nerves were eased with a birdie at the next, only for the American to three-putt from no more than three feet on the par-three 15th to gift the advantage to his rival.
In sharp contrast, Rai went through the entire final 18 holes without posting a bogey and effectively sealed the deal on the 18th with a birdie.
Aaron Rai had winner's duties but asked for a few minutes.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 12, 2024
He wanted to chat with runner-up Max Greyserman 🤝 pic.twitter.com/GXuZW6l9Cv
A win long in the making
Ahead of this tournament, Rai had never been higher than 45th in the World Golf Rankings, yet it was appreciated that the Wolverhampton-born player had been playing the best golf of his career.
Prior to the event in North Carolina, the 29-year-old had made nine cuts in a row, a run which had included four finishes inside the top seven.
A runner-up spot came at the Rocket Mortgage Classic earlier in the summer but, on his 89th start on the PGA Tour, he finally has the win that his recent play has deserved.
Most importantly in the short term, Rai catapults himself into 25th place in the Fedex Cup standings ahead of the playoffs commencing this week.
The manner of Greyserman's collapse may take time to get over, his runner-up finish the second in succession, but the consolation is that he makes it into the top 70 of the standings and qualifies for the St Jude Championship.
Round 4 leaderboard @WyndhamChamp:
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 12, 2024
1. Aaron Rai -18
2. @MaxGreyserman -16
T3. @JJSpaun -15
T3. Ryo Hisatsune -15
5. Luke Clanton -14
6. Austin Eckroat -13
Who were the other standout performers?
Luke Clanton was the other standout player of the week, the amateur closing with a final-round 69 to earn fifth place.
Open Championship runner-up Billy Horschel had to make do with seventh, while France's Victor Perez holed a putt on the last to claim 33rd position which was enough to secure the 70th and final position in the Fedex Cup playoffs.
