DP WORLD INDIA CHAMPIONSHIP

October 13, 2026

Aaron Rai

Delhi GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much everyone for being with us again for another one. After Justin Rose, we have one the reigning major champions, our very own, we have appropriated him as ours, Aaron Rai. Aaron, welcome to the media center and for your first appearance at the Delhi Golf Club and in the DP World Tour India Championship.

First thoughts on the Delhi Golf Club and coming copping to play here at this huge event?

AARON RAI: Firstly, thank you for having me. First thoughts on Delhi, yesterday was the first time that I had seen the course. Watched it a little bit on TV over the years.

I think it was even better in person. Extremely narrow, very strategic. Extremely well designed. A lot of angles. Absolutely privilege to play. I definitely need a couple of more rounds to play a little bit more. One round certainly isn't enough. Hopefully I can do that before Thursday starts.

And on a personal note. Obviously fantastic to be in India. I really enjoy coming back here for golf, for family. So, yeah, it's a privilege to be able to put the golf and family and being in India all together in one week.

THE MODERATOR: What kind of a change is it from carrying a bag last year for your wife and to actually playing this year?

AARON RAI: I think it was more nerve-wracking last year carrying the bag. First time I caddied as well, so to go in an Indian Open, and for my wife as well, that was a really cool experience.

I'll have to get back to you on Thursday morning to be able to compare what it's like experiencing both. Yeah, really cool experience last year to do that. Yeah, obviously looking forward to playing this week and teeing it up on Thursday.

THE MODERATOR: Aaron, you won titles around in various corners of the world, from United States to Europe to the Middle East and Far East, and of course Africa. What would two mean to you to be able to win once in the country of your wife?

AARON RAI: Honestly, I try not think too much about that. There is still a lot that goes into feeling comfortable with this golf course. As I said, it's the first time I played it yesterday. There is a lot that happens between the Thursday and Sunday to give yourself an opportunity to be in that position.

I'm answering this very practically rather than emotionally, but it's also how I try and approach this tournament and how I try and approach any tournament. That I have to do a lot of the right things to even have the opportunity, so I try not really go places in my mind, especially at this juncture in the week.

THE MODERATOR: Floor is open. Questions.

Q. Aaron, I was talking to a couple of players, and they have already made a memory for themselves in this tournament when they had pictures taken with you yesterday. Subash Tamang from Nepal, he said that he just felt that I could approach him and ask him for a picture, which I don't know if I can do with Rory or not. And that is something that makes you stand out of all the players and the kind of responsibility you can take. Because No. 1, you're so approachable and secondly everyone things you're one of our own. Have you thought about that, what kind of responsibility that has been thrown upon you because of the PGA Championship?

AARON RAI: Personally, I think it goes beyond my responsibility after the PGA or through being a professional golfer. That's just human responsibility that everyone has regardless of what platform it is. For me it happens to be golf. Happens to be in beautiful meetings like that. But I think every person has that responsibility to just try and be as warm and try and just set good examples.

We don't understand the positivity that can create for someone else and the ripple effect that that then can create for their families, for X, Y, Z. I think that's something that everyone should try and do. That isn't just limited to myself or because of my platform through golf.

Q. Your thoughts on the golf course?

AARON RAI: Absolutely brilliant. I definitely need a little bit more time on it. One round is nowhere near enough on a golf course like this.

But my first impression is just extremely well designed. It will be strong test with how it's set up. I am sure it will get firmer and faster as the week goes on. The rough is extremely thick as well, so it will be a really good challenge for everyone this week.

Q. How is life changed after winning a major?

AARON RAI: It's definitely been a little bit busier, both on the golf course trying to manage time, practicing, as well as away from tournaments and just a few decisions that come up away from golf.

So definitely been a learning curve. I've done some things that I felt really proud of in terms of how we've handled a few of the things, and there were a couple things I'm definitely still learning from in the process.

It's been great. It's definitely a little bit different, but it's full of a lot of learning.

Q. Your game is a built on precision, consistency, discipline. These are qualities the Delhi Golf Club really rewards. You're regarded as one of the nicest people on tour. Now in such a fiercely competitive sport, how do you balance that temperament with the ruthless competitiveness that you need to sometimes when these tournaments for you to go seek out your next major? How do you grow that and chase that ambition, if you will?

AARON RAI: That's a great question. The first part of the question, for me personally, I think a lot of it is based on respect. Whether that's players, whether that's fans. You can be very respectful towards them and be genuine because that's what -- that's really important for me, for anyone.

But then when it comes to golf and competing and practicing, in my mind being respectful to the game is treating it with the challenge and discipline and hard work that it deserves. Whether that's learning a golf course like Delhi Golf Club or the practice that goes into preparing for a tournament, the practice in an offseason, workouts, training. In my mind all of that is being respectful to the game and what's required.

So that's the way I try and balance things.

In terms of future aspirations, again, I think this year and the previous years of being a professional, very proud of the continued improvement, my application towards the game, and provided I can keep moving in the same direction, I don't know what the future holds, I don't know if things will get better or if things will stagnate, get worse, no one knows. But providing I can still approach it with discipline and keep working hard, hopefully I can keep kind of improving as the years go on.

Q. My question to you is: How important are golf courses like DGC? It is not modern golf courses. These are old school golf courses. You're from England. An analogy from cricket, the way it's played. What according to you and how important are these golf courses for the future of golf, where the drivers are in the bag and you have to play in an old school fashion?

AARON RAI: I think it's really important. As you said, there are fewer and fewer courses in the modern day quite like this, especially events at the highest levels that are competed on courses like this.

So it's fantastic that this course has the platform it has with such a prestigious tournament with all the world class players that are here.

But I think on a larger perspective, I think it's great for the game of golf because a lot is made of the power. A lot is made of distance. But these kind of courses teach you a different side of the game. It teaches you strategy, teaches you skill, teaches you precision. It teaches you to really try and learn the nuances of the golf course.

Beyond just the tournament this week, these experiences, these experiences, these courses round you as a golf, whether that's me or anyone else. And the more rounded you are as a player, the better you'll become and the more impact you'll have in the game of golf, both on a personal level and the positive affects you can have.

It's a crucial part and I'm glad a great course like this has the stage that it deserves to be able to showcase some of that.

Q. Obviously you're a major winner now. I'm interested to know what mental and technical adjustments you made to your game that made you more consistent and improved your performances?

AARON RAI: For me personally, a lot of it is a step-by-step process. Not even step by step, almost half step by half step. There are very few decisions you make that seem to have an instant impact, but I think golf rewards the constant consistency through the different areas that it needs.

So I can't really think of one thing in particular, but I think just trying to be very well-rounded in the way that I practice in terms of the different parts of the game, doing enough technical things to stay on top of the foundations, creating different situations that test different shots, creating a little bit of competitiveness in practice that kind of starts to force you to feel a little bit more emotion, which is what we feel in tournaments.

And trying to put seasons together and planning tournaments in the schedule where you give yourself chances to get into runs, into a rhythm. Then all of the fitness stuff and kind of the way of living that goes beyond it. I think if you approach it from an overall perspective and try and be diligent in all the small details, the other things just start to fall in place and start to happen.

It's very easy to focus on what you want and where you want to go. You miss all of the steps and all of details that are required. You can have amazing goals, but just because you have that goals doesn't mean they're going to come true.

It's what you do, how you plan, how you work. It's the discipline you approach every day when people are around, when no one is around. I think it's those things that really start to amount to something over a period of time.

Q. I just want to switch to a little something more personal. You have frequently spoken about the sacrifices your father made growing up. The PGA Championship trophy you said how you've now kept at his place for him. Were there some of these sacrifices that you have come to be now as you have come to be intensely successful, you've come to recognize and realize and become more aware of those sacrifices now than you were conscious of growing up?

AARON RAI: There were so many things. I think you only experience that as you get a little bit older as well. It's hard to put in perspective when you're ten years old, 15 years old, even 20 years old. I'm going to speak differently in ten years than I do now.

That grows another appreciation, that appreciation grows of our parents as we get older and maybe become parents in the future.

But I think the -- firstly, the amount of time is one thing, but also, the amount of thoughts and the amount of just small everyday instances in life that he tried to create as messages for me. Just really powerful when I look back on it. Same for my mum as well. She's been absolutely huge in all of the things from support, from the -- I've just been extremely lucky and I think I'm appreciating that more now.

Hopefully I just continue to appreciate that more and more as time goes on.

Q. Aaron, of course we have heard stories about how you grew up not with as many resources that some of the other kids might have. He has been your father and coach as well? What is the kind of maybe if you can give us a couple messages or thoughts that he has put into you that has made Aaron Rai the person that he is today. This will resonate a lot because such stories are far and plenty in India.

AARON RAI: I think firstly, things in life, whether it's sport, whether it's business, whether it's education, things are often simple but they're not easy. I think that was a big foundation of what my dad told me a lot. Through actions, through the discipline of practice, that the formulas are not extremely complex like we sometimes think there are. That's where the simplicity is there. It requires constant practice and constant awareness. It requires so much of you, and it needs a huge amount of support from the family, and that's why it's not easy, because it requires so many different things.

But I think if you approach things in that way, there is nothing that you can't achieve. That was massive from him, that there shouldn't be any limitations no matter where you're from, no matter what you have or what you don't have. But you have to approach things in the right way, whether it's golf, the small things, whether it's something that seems negligible, you have to approach it with discipline and approach it in a way that is right.

I think through the time I grew up and as I got older these are things that I really valued as I became an adult, but hopefully things I try to move forward with as well. I truly believe in those things, and I think quite often, whether it's golf, society, they can put you into boxes of what you can achieve and can't achieve and create limitations around you.

I think if you are really diligent and disciplined and you approach things in a holistic way, every single person has a huge amount of potential. It's our responsibility to try and do the right things to try and fulfill that potential not just for ourselves or our families but on a wider scale.

THE MODERATOR: One question which I've always wanted to. When you were young, did your mom ever scold you or your dad? Because you seem to be so good. You seem to do everything right. Did they ever get a chance it scold you?

AARON RAI: I've been scolded a couple times.

THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll leave it at that time. Thank you very much and have a great week.

AARON RAI: Thank you very much.