Why does Aaron Rai wear two gloves and use iron covers?

Aaron Rai is the only tour star we know who wears two gloves and uses iron covers. His reason for doing so is surprisingly practical and heart warming

Aaron Rai is not your average PGA Tour star. He is not on social media. He doesn’t have an agent. And he goes about his business while wearing two golf gloves and using iron covers.

Different? You could call him that. But there is method behind his unusual look. Let’s start with the gloves because he was first gifted a pair from Glenmuir when he was just seven years old.

At first, he started wearing both just to keep his hands warm, but he got so used to them that he played awful when he tried using just the one.

“It was terrible,” he revealed in a previous interview. “I couldn’t play, I couldn’t feel the grip, so I’ve always stuck with the two gloves ever since.”

In terms of practicality, the MacWet golf gloves he’s used for more than 20 years proved particularly handy during his victory at the Scottish Open in 2020, when brutal conditions battered players and the course. Rai even commented on what he perceived as a competitive advantage following his playoff victory at the Renaissance Club.

“The Macwet gloves were excellent in the wet and challenging conditions that we faced at the Scottish Open,” he said. “Even in heavy rain, the gloves provided me with grip and feel in my hands which helped to enable me to compete.”

As for the iron covers, there is a little more to it. The tradition owes a lot to Rai’s upbringing and parents, who bought him a set of Titleist 690 MB irons when he was eight. He was then taught the value of looking after them by watching his father cleaning them in the kitchen sink.

“After practice, he would always clean the clubs with a safety pin and baby oil,” Rai told us five years ago. “From doing that, he thought having iron covers would prevent any scratching or wearing. That’s something I’ve respected ever since. Although I can get another set of irons for free now, using iron covers is a reminder of where I’ve come from and what I have access to.”

Rai is currently gaming the TaylorMade P7TW irons, which were in his bag when he claimed his first PGA Tour title at the Wyndham Championship last August.

You can read our exclusive interview with the Masters rookie by clicking here.