Aaron Rai reveals why he hired new coach for John Deere Classic despite crediting his father’s coaching for recent PGA success

PGA: John Deere Classic – Second Round
Aaron Rai at John Deere Classic – Second Round (Credit: Joseph Cress-USA TODAY Sports)
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Aaron Rai is on the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the 2024 John Deere Classic. The cutline settled at 5-under par at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois on Friday, June 5.

Aaron Rai scored a bogey-free 8-under 63 in the second round at the John Deere Classic after scoring 6-under 65 on the first day. He started on the back nine and scored three birdies on the 10th, 14th and 15th holes. On the front nine, he secured five birdies on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th holes.

Aaron Rai has registered top-20 finishes in his last three starts, including T2 at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic held in Detroit. In the post-round press conference in Silvis, Rai credited his father Amrik Singh for the recent success and said (via Ten Golf):

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“I feel in a really good place off the golf course. And then couple weeks ago I spent quite a while on the greens. My dad gave me a couple tips.” [01:18]
He further talked about working with a new coach John Graham, a putting coach on the PGA and LPGA Tours.

“Started working with John Graham last week as well, a putting coach who is based out here. That’s really helped to just gel things together on the greens. So, yeah, putting all that together has definitely translated to on the course,” Rai added.

Rai is currently tied with C.T. Pan in first place at 14-under 128. Harry Hall is positioned a shot behind in third place. Eric Cole, Davis Thompson, Denny McCarthy, Luke Clanton (a), Sungjae Im and Hayden Springer are T4 at 12-under 130.

The winner of the 2024 John Deere Classic will take home $1,440,000 of the total prize money of $8 million.

A look at Aaron Rai’s performance in 2024
Aaron Rai has had a decent season so far with three top-10 and seven top-25 finishes, including a T4 at CJ Cup Byron Nelson and a T7 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. He comes to the John Deere Classic after a runner-up finish at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and is currently 58th on the FedExCup standings.

Here’s a look at Aaron Rai’s performances this year:

2024 PGA TOUR Tournaments
Sony Open in Hawaii: T57 (65-69-70-70, 274, -6)
The American Express: Missed Cut (69-71-66, 206, -10)
Farmers Insurance Open: T33 (66-70-75-72, 283, -5)
WM Phoenix Open: Missed Cut (76-65, 141, -1)
Mexico Open at Vidanta: T19 (68-70-69-67, 274, -10)
Puerto Rico Open: T23 (69-69-70-68, 276, -12)
THE PLAYERS Championship: T35 (71-72-68-71, 282, -6)
Valspar Championship: Missed Cut (73-72, 145, +3)
Texas Children’s Houston Open: T7 (66-70-67-67, 270, -10)
Valero Texas Open: T58 (72-73-74-70, 289, +1)
Corales Puntacana Championship: Missed Cut (71-76, 147, +3)
THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson: T4 (67-65-68-64, 264, -20)
PGA Championship: T39 (68-68-70-71, 277, -7)
Charles Schwab Challenge: T32 (71-71-67-71, 280, E)
RBC Canadian Open: T14 (67-70-65-70, 272, -8)
U.S. Open: T19 (69-74-68-73, 284, +4)
Rocket Mortgage Classic: T2 (66-65-68-72, 271, -17)
John Deere Classic (ongoing): T1 (65-63, 128, -14)
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Edited by Aayush Kapoor