Guarika Bishnoi was standing on the 18th green at Aronimink Golf Club on Sunday evening, watching her husband clutch the Wanamaker Trophy, and she already knew exactly when the outcome had been decided, even before Aaron Rai holed the 68-foot birdie putt on the 17th that made it official.
The moment, she said, was earlier. It was during the first eight holes of the final round at the PGA Championship, when Rai was not yet separating himself from the field and things were not tipping in his favor.
She watched how he carried himself through those difficult early holes — calm, composed, unaffected — and she recognized something about his golf game. Meanwhile, Rai’s net worth was almost doubled after his impressive PGA Championship win.
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“The way he was carrying himself and the way he was so calm and composed after the first eight holes when things were exactly not really tipping towards his way, that was enough win for me,” Bishnoi told Today’s Golfer.
“Because when I see a professional golfer who’s able to do something like that in such a high-intensity situation, I know he can do it again. Even if we wouldn’t have lifted the trophy today, I knew that he’s ready to lift it very soon,” she said.
Bishnoi is not a casual observer. The 27-year-old is one of India’s top women’s golfers, an eight-time winner on India’s Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour and a current member of the Ladies European Tour.
Aaron Rai of England and wife Gaurika Bishnoi look on alongside caddie Jason Timmis during the final round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club -Credit:Getty
She has been playing professionally since 2016 and married Rai in London in July 2025.
The couple practice together regularly at TPC Sawgrass near their home in Jacksonville, and their relationship functions as much as a professional partnership as a personal one.
Rai made that connection explicit in his post-round press conference, becoming emotional when asked about her influence.
Rai finished three strokes ahead of Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley at the PGA Championship -Credit:Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
“I’m not exaggerating when I say that I wouldn’t be here without her,” he said. “Both as a companion, as a friend, as someone I’m sharing my life with, but also as a real support system for my game. She’s a professional golfer herself so her mindset, her advice, her thoughts, whether it’s technique or the way I’m holding myself is absolutely invaluable.”
He added that the two had a 30-minute conversation in the car the evening before the final round. “Some of the things that she mentioned in the conversations were really with me today.”
For Bishnoi, the victory was also a reflection of the culture around Rai, the sponsors who have supported him since he was a child, the team that has stayed unchanged throughout his career.
“Even the labels that you see on him, it’s not a gimmick,” she said. “These are people who’ve been with Aaron since he was pretty much 10. He has changed no one from the team. It’s been a massive, massive team effort by everybody for us to be stood here where we are.”