'Very surreal' - Aaron Rai's first words after winning the US PGA Championship

Aaron Rai said it was ‘very surreal’ after climbing the golfing mountain to win his first major championship.

A stunning performance at Aronimink in Pensylvannia - which included a monster 69-foot putt on the 71st hole - saw the Wolverhampton-born former Shropshire & Herefordshire junior post a winning total of nine under par.

And at the trophy presentation, he attempted to explain his feelings.

"Very surreal,” he said. “It's been a bit of a frustrating season so to be stood here is definitely outside of my wildest imagination.

"I think I have had really good consistency over the last few weeks in terms of practice. My body has been feeling great. I really enjoyed the course this week and held the rounds together as the week went on. It is phenomenal to be stood here.”

He added: "Golf is an amazing game. It teaches you so many things and it teaches you humility, discipline and absolute hard work because nothing is given in this game no matter what level you are playing or what course you are playing on.

"It teaches you so many amazing life skills and pretty much every guy on Tour are incredible people and the sport should be very proud."

Reflecting on his 69-foot birdie putt at the penultimate hole, Rai said: "I definitely wasn't trying to hole that putt. The shadow of the pin gave a really nice line for proably the last 10 feet and that helped with the visual of the putt. It was so long, I was just trying to put a good speed on it and it just tracked extremely well in the last half. Amazing seeing that one go in."