Rai's knockout punch in Rocky's backyard ends century-long English drought at PGA Championship

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pennsylvania, May 17 : Down the road from the city that produced one of Hollywood's ultimate underdog stories, Aaron Rai wrote an equally inspiring script at the PGA Championship on Sunday, delivering the knockout punch to become the first Englishman to win the Wanamaker Trophy since 1919.

Rai came into the week a little-known long shot to win but emerged from a packed leaderboard on one of golf's biggest stages and was the last man standing at Aronimink Golf Club just outside Philadelphia.

"To be standing here is definitely outside of my wildest imagination," said Rai, the first player in PGA Championship history to lower his score in each round.

Rai pulled away from the chasing pack with four back-nine birdies, including a 68-footer at the par-three 17th that delivered the knockout blow, en route to a five-under-par 65 that left him at nine under on the week and three shots clear of Jon Rahm (68) and Alex Smalley (70).

When Rai's final putt dropped there were still two pairings on the course, and while his name was already being engraved on the Wanamaker Trophy he did not break into the type of final-hole celebration typical of a newly-crowned major champion.

With the win, the Wolverhampton-born Rai becomes the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes in 1919.

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The day began with a tournament-record 22 players within four shots of the lead entering the final round and for much of the day a playoff seemed inevitable.

But Rai, who went out in the third-to-last pairing and two shots behind overnight leader Smalley, had other ideas and kickstarted his day at the par-five ninth with a 40-foot eagle putt.

Two holes later, Rai moved into a share of the lead with Matti