{"id":64023,"date":"2026-05-08T19:36:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T23:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/english-golfer-aaron-rai-takes-lead-at-south-carolina-tournament\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T19:36:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T23:36:56","slug":"english-golfer-aaron-rai-takes-lead-at-south-carolina-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/english-golfer-aaron-rai-takes-lead-at-south-carolina-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"English Golfer Aaron Rai Takes Lead at South Carolina Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

English golfer Aaron Rai shot a 4-under-par 67 during Friday’s second round to capture a one-shot advantage heading into the weekend at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic in South Carolina.<\/p>

Rai stands among the few players in this alternate tournament – running opposite to this week’s Truist Championship – who has already secured a spot in next week’s PGA Championship. The tournament victor will receive automatic qualification for the major championship if they haven’t already earned their way in.<\/p>

Beginning his round at the 10th tee, the English player managed just 1-under on his opening nine holes before catching fire on the front side. He recorded four birdies across his first seven holes on the front nine before closing with consecutive pars to reach 10-under 132 for the tournament.<\/p>

Despite holding the highest world ranking among competitors at No. 42, Rai emphasized the importance of not taking anything for granted at Dunes Golf and Beach Club.<\/p>

“Everyone starts at the same playing field on Thursday, and everyone who is in this field is good enough to win. No one has any rights to walk in and play well and compete,” Rai said. “Just try to approach it as I would any tournament. Prepare as well as I can and, yeah, just run through as many good routines as I can during the week.”<\/p>

Trailing by a single shot at 9-under are Brandt Snedeker, who posted a bogey-free 66, and Mark Hubbard, who carded a 67. Snedeker’s round featured five birdies without a blemish, while Hubbard battled through an uneven front nine with three bogeys and three birdies before surging with four birdies on the back nine, including back-to-back birdies on holes 9-12.<\/p>

“Overall just found something in my putting,” Hubbard said. “I wasn’t really feeling that great early with it. Then just kind of found a little setup cue that turned things around and gained some confidence from there.”<\/p>

Kevin Roy (66) and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout (67) complete the top five at 8-under par.<\/p>

Scotland’s Martin Laird, who held the first-round lead, struggled to a 4-over 75 on Friday and dropped into a tie for 30th place at 3-under.<\/p>

Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, who played alongside Rai during both opening rounds, managed a 1-under second round and enters the weekend tied for 22nd at 4-under par.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aaron Rai carded a 4-under 67 on Friday to claim the lead at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic in South Carolina. The English golfer sits one shot ahead of Brandt Snedeker and Mark Hubbard heading into the weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":64022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1778283415831.jpg?fit=450%2C294&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-gED","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68026,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/english-golfer-aaron-rai-captures-first-major-championship-at-pga-tournament\/","url_meta":{"origin":64023,"position":0},"title":"English Golfer Aaron Rai Captures First Major Championship at PGA Tournament","author":"Admin","date":"May 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Aaron Rai of England secured his inaugural major championship victory at the PGA Championship in Pennsylvania on Sunday. The golfer finished three strokes ahead of competitors Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley at Aronimink Golf Club.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779063757541.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68054,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/english-golfer-aaron-rai-captures-first-major-title-at-pga-championship\/","url_meta":{"origin":64023,"position":1},"title":"English Golfer Aaron Rai Captures First Major Title at PGA Championship","author":"Admin","date":"May 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Aaron Rai of England claimed his first major championship with a stunning final-round 65 at the PGA Championship in Pennsylvania. The 31-year-old overcame 300-1 odds to become the first Englishman to win the tournament in 107 years.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779070952753.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":75724,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/golfer-aaron-rai-uses-past-setbacks-to-prepare-for-memorial-tournament\/","url_meta":{"origin":64023,"position":2},"title":"Golfer Aaron Rai Uses Past Setbacks to Prepare for Memorial Tournament","author":"Admin","date":"June 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Professional golfer Aaron Rai says his disappointing fifth-place finish at the Myrtle Beach Classic actually helped prepare him for his subsequent PGA Championship victory. The 31-year-old Englishman is now applying those lessons as he prepares for this week's Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1780435396934.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68352,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/english-golfer-aaron-rai-claims-historic-pga-championship-victory\/","url_meta":{"origin":64023,"position":3},"title":"English Golfer Aaron Rai Claims Historic PGA Championship Victory","author":"Admin","date":"May 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Aaron Rai made history by becoming the first English-born golfer in over 100 years to win the PGA Championship. The 31-year-old delivered a spectacular final round performance at Aronimink Golf Club, including dramatic long putts that sealed his victory.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779116790653.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779116790653.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779116790653.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779116790653.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779116790653.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67948,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/longshot-alex-smalley-leads-pga-championship-by-two-strokes-entering-final-round\/","url_meta":{"origin":64023,"position":4},"title":"Longshot Alex Smalley Leads PGA Championship by Two Strokes Entering Final Round","author":"Admin","date":"May 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Alex Smalley, an unlikely contender who had never been in major championship contention before this week, enters Sunday's final round of the PGA Championship with a two-shot advantage. The tournament features a record-setting 22 players within four shots of the lead at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779043039984.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":64025,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/australian-golfer-lucas-herbert-dominates-liv-golf-virginia-with-six-shot-lead\/","url_meta":{"origin":64023,"position":5},"title":"Australian Golfer Lucas Herbert Dominates LIV Golf Virginia with Six-Shot Lead","author":"Admin","date":"May 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Australian golfer Lucas Herbert shot a flawless 9-under 63 in the second round at LIV Golf Virginia, building a commanding six-stroke advantage. Herbert's mistake-free performance included nine birdies and has him at 17-under par heading into the weekend at Trump National DC.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1778283416583.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}