How did Aaron Rai win the PGA? Must listen when we … hunt ghosts?

In no time, he was warned, he would hear a foreign question. Because of the subject matter and the fact that it was being asked two days before a PGA Championship, it suggested that the questioner was not coming from the press room, but directly from the clubhouse.

But I asked him anyway.

Do you believe in ghosts?

He stopped.

He laughed.

He answered.

“Yes,” said Aaron Rai.

Really?

“Yes.”

More questions followed, of course. A cue, too, from Rai — who, three years and two days after that late Tuesday afternoon at Oak Hill Country Club, wasn’t just playing another PGA Championship, but earning her Wanamaker. There Rai was, somehow bringing Aronimik Golf Club on his knees, having spent the week punching everyone else in the head. After a bogey at 8, he birdies 9 on a 40-footer, 11 birdies, 13 birdies, 16 birdies and, most terrifyingly, 17 on a 68-foot bomb, all the while looking exactly like what I’d seen when I once tried to hail a ghost with the Englishman.

Some background here. At Oak Hill, some Oak Hillians had believed that the water on his 7th hole was occasionally visited by “Buffalo” Bill Codywho, unfortunately, had passed away long before any golf was played on the Rochester, NY courses. One of the most outstanding performers of the late 1800s/early 1900s — and why the NFL’s Buffalo Bills are called the “Buffalo Bills” — Cody had lived in the area and loved its outdoor activities and, some thought, still does. I made a few phone calls. In two Buffalo Bill museums. (Like I said, he was famous.) To Fred Beltz, the Oak Hill club historian, who graciously shared more of the story. To Susan Fiandach, a lifelong Rochesterian and, most importantly for this project, a psychic medium who instructed me on how to talk to, yes, ghosts, because if this were true, it would certainly have to be talked about with the show. On the Tuesday of tournament week, in Game 7, I asked a few players my question. Most weren’t interested because, you know, they were golfers, not ghosts. One pro was, well, scared.

Then, around 6 o’clock or so, came Rai, a substitute for that week, who I had never spoken to before but knew how to be articulate in interviews. At least he would politely tell me to become a ghost and disappear. However, he explained that he strongly believed in an afterlife and, as I told him what I had learned, he joked that he was sorry to be outside as our surroundings darkened. He also double-checked that what was going on wasn’t, in fact, a scam, so, yeah, he’s not gullible either.

We reached the water and I did as Fiandach taught me.

Buffalo Bill, I want to see you. I want to talk to you. Please show up.

Nothing.

I was about to thank Ray for his time.

Only then did he try.

Buffalo Bill, we would love to see you. If you are here, then, yes, let us know.

Nothing.

I held out my hand to Rai. I tried to thank him again. But he had an idea.

Let’s try it together this time.

So we did.

Three-two-one.

Buffalo Bill, we would love to see you. Please show up.

Nothing.

But yes, of course there was SOMETHING. The story and video are still on the world wide web. (It was actually published three years before the day of his victory.) That week, Brooks Koepka wonand Rai, unfortunately, never played. A few weeks later, we talked about a verse. Did someone give him ghost poo for this? He said he had heard some comments. From then on, I’ll text him from time to time.

On Sunday, I saw it.

And you saw what I had already seen.

In one PGA Championship-winning moment, the dude didn’t look like he’d seen a ghost.

Immobile.

Unconcerned by what can happen at any moment to Aronimink while he was playing for the PGA Championship title.

Unfazed by what turned out to be nothing at all happening at Oak Hill as he waited for a breakthrough to a PGA Championship.

“I’m very happy for him” Xander Schauffele said. “He’s such a nice guy. You rarely feel like people work harder than you.

“I feel like I’ve played a pretty good amount of time and Aaron’s always there. He’s always in the gym. He’s always on the course. He’s always — you know, at the scotch, I’m standing right there. I thought it was fun for (caddy Austin Kaiser) and I to go putt. Aaron is finishing the session at 5 p.m. at 5 p.m. That was three years ago, I think that’s what you will become a great champion when no one was looking for him and his team.

Late Sunday, I texted Beltz, the Oak Hill historian, who was watching. He replied, “How good that Aaron Rai was part of the Wild Bill expedition!” I messaged Fiandech, the psychic, and asked if she could have predicted the win.

“Lol maybe.”

But then things got really weird. As part of this, I reviewed the video.

In the end, I told him that we will talk again on Sunday when he raises Wanamaker.

Maybe I saw something that day.

Editor’s note: To read the original story on Buffalo Bill and Oak Hill — featuring Rai — click here. To watch the entire video, scroll down.