Rory McIlroy in striking distance of leader Smalley with packed PGA primed for sprint finish
IN THE ZONE: Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, lines up his shot on the 16th green during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. Pic: AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
When Rory McIlroy looked at the vacuum-packed halfway leaderboard at the PGA Championship on Friday evening he suggested every one of the 82 who'd made the cut should be chasing the Wanamaker Trophy. He may not have had this in mind though.
The second major of the golfing year is about as wide open as a gathering of the game's best has been in living memory. On a moving day when Aronimink Golf Club offered up more scoring opportunities — but never got too generous — there was a mass shuffling but only one unlikely man found a little breathing room.
Alex Smalley will wake up Sunday morning with a two-shot lead to defend in western Philadelphia. The 29-year-old has never won a professional tour event but a brilliantly resilient back nine highlighted by a birdie on the last puts him into altogether unfamiliar territory.
A birdie on 18 & brilliant back nine. Alex Smalley will head into the final round with a two-shot lead. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/b0vpS7pMBM
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 16, 2026
On a regular Sunday it would be only natural that he would be nervous. Smalley may be well advised not to look over his shoulder and read through the list of 30 players within five shots of his 6-under clubhouse lead. The 22 who sit within four shots of the lead is a record in the 108-year history of the PGA Championship.
McIlroy is right in the thick of the chasing pack after a brilliant 4-under 66 in the benign afternoon conditions in Pennsylvania. It was his lowest round of the week courtesy of some superb putting — just 27 total compared to the 34 he'd needed Thursday — and brings back-to-back majors firmly into view. Nobody has done that since Jordan Spieth in 2016 but the way McIlroy had so many aspects of his game in flow state Saturday, anything and everything feels possible.
“We'll see what happens. We'll see what the guys do this afternoon," said McIlroy, who sits three back of Smalley on 3-under overall. "I've climbed my way out of that hole a little bit. I'm proud of myself for doing that, but there's one more day left, and depending on what the guys do, [I feel I’ll be close enough to the lead, I feel like I've still got a good chance.”
Rory McIlroy likes his chances heading into Sunday at Aronimink. 🏆
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 17, 2026
The two-time PGA Champion is chasing a third Wanamaker Trophy.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/lVoZUEVsa2
McIlroy will go out in the fourth-last group on Sunday alongside fellow multi-major winner Xander Schauffele. It's a truly stacked leaderboard with European heavyweights Jon Rahm and Ludvig Aberg a shot ahead of McIlroy and other major winners like Patrick Reed, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Rose and Cam Smith also within striking range. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who missed a scatter of putts within ten feet on a frustrating Saturday, joins Brooks Koepka on 1-under, just five back.
What makes it all the more intriguing is that the three final pairings will be packed with four men who don't know what it takes to close on a major Sunday — Smalley with German Matti Schmid and England's Aaron Rai with Canadian Nick Taylor in the penultimate group.
Smalley's back-nine surge was all the more remarkable because the halfway co-leader initially did succumb to the nerves one would expect of a player so green. Playing alongside Maverick McNealy as the afternoon winds picked up, he bogeyed four of his first eight to drop well back. However five birdies and a lone bogey on the much harder back half saw him grasp something which has been really rare in Pennsylvania this week — daylight. A two-shot lead is not insignificant given how tough scoring could be expected to be on a course which has proven to be a compelling match for the world's best.
After compatriots Shane Lowry and McIlroy had called out some aspects of the set-up at Aronimink, Padraig Harrington countered that it was giving fans exactly what they want to see. The ageless Dubliner was liking what he saw out there Saturday too, shooting a superb 67 which brought him to even-par overall and into a tie for 31st at the age of 54.
After signing for a 71 which could genuinely have been as low as a 64, Scheffler shook off his frustration to say what so many were thinking.
"I've never seen anything like this. I think it's just the nature of a lot of different things, but yeah, I've never seen a leaderboard like this, this bunched up," said the Texan, chasing a fifth major before turning 30 next month.
"Going into tomorrow, it's quite literally anybody's tournament. There's a lot of guys that have a chance. Going into tomorrow, just somebody is going to have a great round, and I'm going to make sure to do my best to give myself my best shot at being the one who has a great round."
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
