Aaron Rai Explains Iron Covers Through Childhood Titleist 690 MBs

Aaron Rai said he uses iron covers because the habit started with childhood clubs his father worked hard to protect. The English golfer tied the detail to a working-class upbringing and to a set of Titleist 690 MBs he received when he was about seven or eight years old.

Aaron Rai and the Titleist 690 MBs

“I grew up in very much a working-class family, and golf has always been a very expensive game,” Rai said. He started playing at age 4, and said his father paid for the equipment, memberships and entry fees even though “it wasn’t money that we really had, to be honest.”

That expense shaped the way he treated every club. Rai said his father bought him the best clubs he could, including the Titleist 690 MBs that cost about 800-1,000 pounds for a kid’s set at the time, and he said he cherished them.

Why Rai Protects His Clubs

After practice, Rai said his father cleaned every groove with a pin and baby oil, then put iron covers on the clubs to protect them. “To protect the golf clubs, he thought it would be good to put iron covers on it,” Rai said. “I’ve pretty much had iron covers on all of my sets ever since just to appreciate the value of what I have, and it all started with that first set.”

The habit is unusual on the PGA Tour, where iron covers are often treated as unnecessary, but Rai has kept them through his career. He also uses two golf gloves when he plays, another rare detail in a sport that usually rewards routine and repetition rather than visible quirks.

Rocket Mortgage Classic Pressure

The timing gave the explanation extra weight. Rai was in position to win for the first time on the PGA Tour at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic, with attention fixed on his game as much as on the gear hanging from his bag.

That makes the story less about a novelty and more about the path behind it. The iron covers did not begin as a brand statement or a tour habit; they started as a child’s way of guarding expensive clubs that his family treated carefully, one groove at a time.

For Rai, the answer is already in the bag. The covers are a reminder of where the equipment came from, and the lesson attached to it has stayed with him since he was eight years old.