Aaron Rai said the men who have coached him for most of his life are far more than instructors, praising Piers Ward and Andy Proudman after his PGA Championship victory and calling their influence on his career and his trophy enormous.
Rai said in his champion’s press conference that he had known Andrew since he was four years old and met Ward when he was eight or nine, adding that the pair started coaching him soon after. “They’ve been phenomenal,” he said, describing them as mentors, big brothers and almost like family, and saying they “go above and beyond” for him in every way.
Their connection goes back to Rai’s childhood, long before the spotlight of major championship golf. Ward and Proudman run Me and My Golf, a coaching brand that has built a huge audience online over 16 years, with 1.1 million subscribers on YouTube and hundreds of millions of views. Their content has become a steady stop for millions of golfers each month looking for advice that is meant to be useful, easy to follow and entertaining.
That background gives Rai’s praise extra weight. The pair have also worked with Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, but Rai’s remarks showed the relationship is built on something deeper than reputation. He said they had played a huge part in his development as a golfer, and in the trophy he had just lifted.
At The Belfry, Ward and Proudman spent a day sharing their best golf tips and drills, aiming to help players add more distance, accuracy and consistency. One of the more unusual exercises was their “Laser Butt” drill, which uses a tee peg in the butt end of the golf club to give feedback on how the clubface arrives into the ball.
The drill asks a golfer to pause as soon as the shaft is pointing parallel to the ground just before the finish. If the tee points to the target, the player has completed a full release through the hitting area and delivered the clubface square. If the clubhead has not rotated enough through impact, the tee peg will point left or even behind the golfer.
They also highlighted a common right-handed fault: setting up with the right hand too far underneath the handle, a position that promotes a strong grip. Their grip drill uses only the right hand, with a tee peg pinched between the thumb and index finger, to help a golfer feel the correct motion.
What Rai’s tribute made clear is that this is not a standard coach-player story. It is a long-running relationship that began when he was a child and still shapes his game at the highest level. For Ward and Proudman, whose videos reach millions, Rai’s win offered the clearest possible proof that advice delivered online and on the range can still produce something tangible when the trust is deep enough.
