Winless Smalley leads PGA Championship field into Title Sunday

Unfancied US golfer Alex Smalley holds a two-shot lead heading into the final day of the 108th PGA Championship in Philadelphia. Image courtesy pgachampionship.com.

By Rahul Banerji

After two days of sharing the lead, Alex Smalley was atop the leaderboard by himself on day three, leading the pack into the home straight of the 108th PGA Championship in Philadelphia on Sunday.

The 29-year-old American (67-69-68) holds the 54-hole lead on 6 under par 204 at for the first time in his PGA Tour career, taking a two-shot advantage into Title Sunday.

A five-way tie for second place on 4 under 206 had a distinctly international flavour and included Spain’s Jon Rahm, Matti Schmid of Germany, Canada’s Nick Taylor, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and Indo-Brit Aaron Rai, who produced another composed round to move into contention for his first major title.

More danger for Smalley lurked a further shot behind with Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed, Xander Schauffele and overnight joint leader Maverick McNealy sharing seventh place on 3 under 207.

Said Smalley, who finished with three birdies over his last four holes on Moving Day and was in the top 20 in his last for starts, said, “The wind was certainly up when we first started the round.

“I mean, it was playing fairly difficult… It certainly wasn’t as easy as some of the guys had it in the morning when the wind wasn’t as strong. 

“I was able to hit a few more fairways on the back nine, was able to take care of some of the scorable holes, I guess, if you want to call them that, but the wind died down a little bit on the back nine.”

Lurking threats

In all, 22 players were within four shots of the leader and 30 within five. That group included major winners Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, Cam Smith and Hideki Matsuyama at 2 under and Brooks Koepka besides defending PGA champion Scottie Scheffler at 1 under.

“It’s a jam-packed leaderboard,” said Schauffele, the 2024 PGA champion. “Come tomorrow, there’s going to be 25, 30 guys within striking distance with 9 to 10 holes to play. 

“It’s going to be great to watch as a fan, but as a player, it’s pretty stressful, and you’ve really got to lock in. So if I can lean back on any experience I have, I will.”

The morning wave had the best of conditions at Aronimink Golf Club since Thursday with amenable pin positions and a gentle breeze, and there was plenty of movement up the leaderboard before the afternoon starters hit the course.

“I watched the coverage this morning before I arrived on property and saw there were scores out there, certainly at the beginning part of the golf course,” Smalley said. 

“Saw a lot of birdies being made. Then by the time that I teed off, the wind had picked up, and it became very difficult to hit a fairway, hit a green, even make a three- or four-footer. 

“I hit a couple wayward shots early, didn’t make it easy on myself. Left myself a lot of par putts of some significant length.”

Steady climb

For back-to-back Masters winner McIlroy, it has been a steady climb after an opening 4 over 74 on Thursday and a tie for 105th place. On Saturday, he was just three shots off the lead at an event he has won twice. 

“I wouldn’t say roller coaster of emotions,” said McIlroy. “I had a really bad finish on Thursday, but at the end of the day, I was only seven back. 

“Like I thought back to last year’s Masters, I was seven back after the first day, and I was two ahead going into the final day. 

“So there’s a lot of golf and a lot of things can happen during the course of a golf tournament. I’ve progressively just got a little bit closer to the lead each day.”

In fact, a  third Wanamaker Trophy in his cabinet would make the Northern Ireland star the all-time European major winner with seven to break his current tie on six each with England’’s Nick Faldo.

It would also complete the second leg of an unprecedented Grand Slam inside a single year.

Rahm too would be a significant gainer if he were to chase down the hitherto-winless Smalley. 

The burly Spaniard, who briefly held the lead on Saturday along with 14 others, could add a third leg to his career slam to go with his 2021 US Open and 2023 Masters titles after his best score in 11 rounds in a major championship. 

“Fantastic round of golf. Thrilled to be in a good position for tomorrow,” the in-form LIV Golf star said.

That, however, would involve first overturning a two-shot lead, and then seeing off the host of challengers who have gathered for their final run to the wire too.

Also read: Field bunched at PGA Championship behind unfancied leaders

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