Smalley leads as McIlroy moves into US PGA contention

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• Published3 hours ago

US PGA Championship third round

-6 A Smalley (US); -4 M Schmid (Ger), N Taylor (Can), J Rahm (Spa), A Rai (Eng), L Aberg (Swe); -3 R McIlroy (NI), X Schauffele (US), P Reed (US), M McNealy (US)

Selected others: -2 J Rose (Eng), M Kaymer (Ger), H Matsuyama (Jpn); -1 S Scheffler (US), B Koepka (US), R Fowler (US); E P Harrington (Ire), D Johnson (US), C Young (US), J Thomas (US); +3 M Fitzpatrick (Eng); +4 S Lowry (Ire)

Full leaderboard

The third rounds of golf tournaments are commonly known as 'moving day', and Saturday at the US PGA Championship lived up to the billing as stars and lesser lights jostled for position on a crowded and fast-moving leaderboard.

Remarkably, 14 players held at least a share of the lead at some point and 30 will go into Sunday's final round within five shots of surprise leader Alex Smalley who is two clear at six under after a two-under 68.

Over the first two days at Aronimink, with the more severe aspects of the course set-up generating much discussion, it felt more like the brutal examination usually reserved for the US Open.

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy - the world's top two players - were among those to weigh in with less than complimentary observations, with the former going as far as describing some of Friday's pin positions at the Pennsylvania course as "absurd".

Championship organisers the PGA of America listened. They moved some tees up and made several pins more accessible which, coupled with more benign conditions, has produced a classic major leaderboard that houses a mix of heavy hitters and less illustrious names.

Several big-time players capitalised on more favourable scoring conditions in the early stages.

McIlroy, who was outside the top 100 after a four-over opening 74 on Thursday, bettered Friday's 67 by one to improve to three under and boost his hopes of following last month's successful Masters defence with his third US PGA title.

Other major winners to vault up the leaderboard included Justin Rose, whose superb 65 left him at two under and revived his hopes of landing an elusive second major, and Jon Rahm, who is two off the lead after carding a 67 to maintain his push for the third leg of a career Grand Slam.

Rose isn't the only man trying to end a 107-year wait for an English winner of this championship, with Aaron Rai alongside Rahm, Ludvig Aberg, Nick Taylor and Matti Schmid on four under.

Not everyone prospered. Scheffler, who shot a Saturday 65 on his way to winning last year's US PGA, surprisingly stuttered to a 71 - having missed numerous short putts - and is five adrift.

However, the American, who said "I've never seen a leaderboard this bunched up" remains in with a shout.

"It's quite literally anybody's tournament," he said. A lot of guys have a chance. Somebody is going to have a great round, and I'm going to give myself my best shot at being the one."

• US PGA round three - Smalley leads by two from Rahm, Aberg and England's Rai - reaction

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Major winners make big moves

With little breeze and attack-ready pin positions, some of the game's premier talents seemingly arrived at the Philadelphia track with a spring in their step.

And, teeing off nearly four hours before the final group, Northern Ireland's McIlroy seized an opportunity to give the later starters something to ponder.

Starting at one over - five back of overnight leaders Smalley and Maverick McNealy - the back-to-back Masters champion hauled himself into a share of the lead at four under with six birdies in his opening 13 holes.

He said his plan had been to get to five under "to make the leaders shoot under par to be ahead of me".

And while he stumbled over the closing holes with a bogey at the 17th, he still has a realistic shot at becoming only the sixth man to win the first two majors of the year.

"I've climbed my way out of that hole," he said. "I'm proud of myself for doing that, but there's one more day left, and I feel like I've still got a good chance."

Having been outside the top 100 after Thursday's opening round, a McIlroy win would mark the greatest major championship comeback after 18 holes.

Steve Jones, who won the 1996 US Open after being tied 84th at the end of the first round, currently holds that record.

Two of McIlroy's Ryder Cup team-mates also entered the fray. Thirteen years removed from his US Open win at Merion - just six miles from Aronimink - Rose has suffered recent heartache in majors.

He lost last year's Masters in a play-off to McIlroy and led this year's tournament with nine holes to play before faltering down the stretch.

However, in his lowest round with his new McLaren irons, the 45-year-old carded six birdies and a bogey to sit four back.

Rahm is another European star chasing redemption. The Spaniard has not added to his two majors since joining LIV Golf before the 2024 season and chased down Scheffler at Quail Hollow last year before imploding over the final holes.

The 31-year-old - hoping to become Spain's first US PGA winner - missed a four-footer to drop a shot on the final hole but will still be widely regarded as the man to beat.

"As hard as it is to play, the challenge can also be kind of fun if you do well," he said.

"That's probably the reason why the leaderboard is so bunched up and it's going to be such a good Sunday."

McIlroy will play alongside 2024 US PGA and Open champion Xander Schauffele in a group that is likely to draw huge crowds, while a pair of Masters winners also have the pedigree to succeed.

Patrick Reed, who won the Green Jacket in 2018 is also at three under, while 2021 victor Hideki Matsuyama is a shot further adrift.

Smalley looks to emulate 'Wild Thing'

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Remarkably, the man they are all chasing is without a professional victory. In fact, it is the first time Smalley has held a 54-hole lead in 141 starts on the PGA Tour.

And while the pressure-cooker atmosphere of championship Sunday may prove different, the 29-year-old belied his inexperience at this level, recovering from three bogeys in his opening four holes to emerge from the pack.

With the top players attracting the crowds up ahead, Smalley was barely on the radar when he reached the turn with a two-over 37 to sit two under overall.

But birdies at 10, 13, 15 and 16 catapulted him back into the spotlight, and while he bogeyed 17, he drained a 13-footer for birdie on the last to open up a two-shot cushion.

Smalley led the way for the unheralded bunch - including his fellow overnight leader McNealy, who hung tough to post 71 and sit three back.

On Sunday, Smalley will play in the final group alongside Germany's Schmid, another player chasing his first professional win on one of golf's grandest stages after an excellent 65.

That was matched by Taylor. The Canadian has never posted a top-20 finish in a major, but five PGA Tour victories, including memorably holing a 72-foot putt to beat Tommy Fleetwood in a play-off to clinch his national open in 2023, suggests he won't wilt in the forecast heat.

Another man to beat Fleetwood in a play-off is Rai. The 31-year-old has done it twice, in fact, in Scotland and Abu Dhabi. And if there are extra holes at Aronimink on Sunday, he showed enough poise and precision during the third round to suggest he can become the first Englishman since Jim Barnes in 1919 to lift the Wanamaker Trophy.

Like Rahm, Rai reached five under with a birdie at 11 and parred his next six holes before, like many, succumbing to the 18th.

"It's actually the first that I heard of that statistic a few minutes ago. I didn't realise that that was the case," Rai said when England's US PGA drought was put to him post-round.

"Yeah, amazing, amazing to be in this position. I'm trying my best to really stick in there and take what comes."

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