Nicest man in golf, Aaron Rai, keeps his prized Trophy at his Dad's house and gets set for Birkdale

Royal Birkdale, Southport, UK: Aaron Rai has deservedly earned the sobriquet of being the 'nicest man on Tour'. That was even before he revealed that he had kept his most prized Wanamaker Trophy at his Dad's place - because it seemed appropriate.

He also revealed he was inspired by Jack Nicklaus to write a 'hand-written' note to a golf friend, who is struggling. With or without Trophies, it is hard not to wax eloquent about Aaron Rai.

Rai, the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship in more than a 100 years, continues to be 'understated' -' just as he was before he became a celebrated Major champion. Even with a microphone barely six inches from his lips, he was 'soft-spoken' and the benign smile never left his face through the half hour he spent with the media on the eve of the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.

The Indo-British golfer revealed that the Wanamaker Trophy - the 34-pound piece silverware which is 29 ¼ inches in height and 10 ½ inches in diameter and 27 inches from handle to handle - adorns the showcase at his father's house and that he himself has no immediate plans to have a Trophy Room.

Then he smiled when asked about a much-talked about warm letter he had recently left in the locker room for nine-time DP World Tour winner, Pablo Larrazabal, who has been struggling with his game.

Then just like that Rai revealed: "After the PGA I received a handwritten letter from Jack Nicklaus, which was kind of surreal when we opened the mail. Yeah, for someone like that to take the time to write to me after the PGA, it definitely shows the class of what Jack is about.

"Then on a separate note from last week, again, it just felt like the right thing to do. It was Pablo Larrazabal. We've played quite a bit together in the past. It was the first that I'd heard he'd been struggling a little bit during the season, so it felt like just the right thing to do. So that's where it came from really."

After speaking to Larrazabal on the range on Monday of last week's Genesis Scottish Open, Rai had his brother print out pictures of Larrazabal holding trophies and placed them at his locker with a hand written note of encouragement to the Spaniard.

Clearly Nicklaus' note was an inspiration that made Rai pen the note, but it also spoke volumes about a young Major champion.

Justin Rose, himself one of the classiest and nicest guys in golf, referred to Aaron Rai as one of the "nicest and most down-to-earth" guys on Tour. And Rory McIlroy has been full of praise for the way Rai carries himself.

Still unsure of the impact of his PGA Championship win on Indian golf, Rai gave an extra big smile when told that the Indian fans and writers had taken him on as "one of their own" along with the likes Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala and Sudarshan Yellamaraju. Rai, Bhatia and Theegala are also playing the Open at Birkdale this week.

Two years ago Rai, Bhatia and Theegala played at the Hero World Challenge in Bahamas and last year Rai came to India to caddie for his wife, Gaurika, at the Hero Women's Indian Open.

Rai, speaking of what impact he may have had, said, "It's really hard to say. It's only been two months since the PGA, and a lot of that time has been spent in the States. The last couple of weeks have been spent in England. So it's difficult for me to say, really.

"I think my wife Gaurika and my brother-in-law Sunhit, they're careful with what they tell me and don't tell me because so much goes into every week, so much goes into trying to be competitive at these events, I think keeping that focus is so crucial.

"So I think I haven't really appreciated the wider impacts that much. I've seen snippets of it, but it's really hard for me to appreciate whatever impact it has had."

Wolverhampton-born Rai's parents are of Indian origin, and his mother grew up in Kenya; he is married to Gaurika Bishnoi, an accomplished Indian professional and her brother Sunhit is a pro on the Indian Golf Premier League Tour.

So, as he admits there is a lot of 'India' in him, but he also smiled and added he was not going to caddie for Gaurika this year!

Rai has been drawn into a very high-profile grouping with fellow major winners Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka at 2.53pm on Thursday. Lowry won The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019, and Koepka won the US PGA in 2018, 2019 and 2023 as well as the US Open in 2017 and 2018.

McIlroy will go out later at 3.15pm alongside 2024 winner Xander Schauffele and Ryder Cup team-mate and former US Open winner, Matt Fitzpatrick in the marquee afternoon group.