Aaron Rai walked into the Dunes Golf and Beach Club this week with the unusual distinction of being the only player ranked inside the world's top 50 in the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic field. Two rounds in, the Englishman is doing what his ranking suggests he should: leading.
A four-under 67 on Friday backed up Rai's opening 65 and lifted him to 10-under for the tournament, one shot clear of Brandt Snedeker and Mark Hubbard at 9-under. Brooks Koepka, the other recognisable name in the field, sits a more distant 4-under and six off the pace.
The Myrtle Beach Classic is an opposite-field event this week, scheduled against the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow, where most of the world's elite are battling for a Signature Event title. That left a thin top of the world ranking on South Carolina's Grand Strand and a chance for the in-form Rai, currently No. 42, to chase a win that would carry him directly into next week's PGA Championship at Aronimink.
Rai, who received a special invitation to the event, was careful not to lean on that ranking gap when asked whether his form should make him a near-certainty at a tournament the world's best are skipping.
"No matter what anyone's world ranking is, whether you are Scottie Scheffler, No. 1, or a little lower down, there's no divine right in golf," Rai said.
Snedeker, 45, is the highest-profile name on the leaderboard and the only one with major-championship pedigree pushing Rai. The 2012 FedExCup champion, who will captain the United States Presidents Cup team at Medinah in September, has paired tidy ball-striking with a settled mood at a golf course he describes as one of his favourites on the circuit.
"This is what you work for, so kind of turn the brain off tomorrow and go have some fun," Snedeker said as he prepared for the weekend.
Hubbard, the third member of the chasing group, has been candid about a difficult stretch of form. "Just been a weird week," he said. "My attitude has been better this week."
The cut fell at even par, leaving a tight weekend bunched around Rai. The headline incentive remains the PGA Championship spot — the Myrtle Beach winner moves directly into the field at Aronimink for the season's second major, beginning Thursday — and for Rai, a maiden PGA Tour title would also extend a season that has already seen him collect multiple top-tens and post results consistent with a player whose ranking suggests he should be inside the world's top 50, not the only one playing this week.
Round three at the Dunes Club tees off Saturday with Rai out late alongside Snedeker and Hubbard, with rain-softened greens still rewarding aggressive lines into the par fives that have driven low scoring through 36 holes.