A tournament that has proven wilder than anyone expected has generated a 54-hole leader in keeping with a week of surprises. After three rounds, Alex Smalley will carry a two-stroke advantage into Sunday’s final lap of PGA Championship.
To say he has been plucked from left-field would be something of an understatement, but at six under par, the world No 78 from upstate New York is the man to beat at the season’s second major.
It is a surreal situation in which the 29-year-old finds himself, not least because he has never before won a professional tournament and started his third round here with three bogeys in four holes.
But we already know he is durable and somewhat resistant to pressure. He held at least a share of the lead after each of the first two rounds and through three he is out on his own after recovering via a thundering back nine of 31 to a 68. The only player to break 70 on all three days is up there on merit alone. Fair play to him.
But Scottie Scheffler spoke for many in admitting he has never known a week like this one in regard to the depth of the chasing pack – no fewer than 21 other golfers are at two under par or better and big beasts are on the move. With the greatest of respect to Matti Schmid, Nick Taylor and Aaron Rai within the cluster at four under, the names of Jon Rahm and Ludvig Aberg are also at that mark.
One further back sits Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Reed, and Justin Rose, at three under, appears ready to dispel a few of the doubts around his new clubs after a 65.
Alex Smalley retained his unlikely lead going into the final round of the PGA Championship
The 29-year-old has never won a pro tournament and started with three bogeys on Saturday
Truly, it is wide open and the leaderboard is congested like no major in recent memory; the final round will be less of a race between two or three horses and more like the mass start of a marathon.
Rai’s situation is particularly fascinating. No fewer than 107 years have passed since an Englishman – Jim Barnes – won the PGA Championship and he navigated the windiest conditions of the round to sign for a 67.
Not dissimilar to Smalley, Rai is a delightful subplot here. He is best known outside of golf as the guy who wears two gloves and a deliberate keeper of a low-profile – he doesn’t use an agent. As a secondary detail, he has covers on his irons, which is a habit ingrained from his youth because clubs were expensive for a working-class family and he knew the value of what his dad bought him as a kid.
Among prominent company, he shouldn’t be discounted on Sunday, because his game aligns uniquely with this course, which is to say that Rai is blessed with greater accuracy than almost anyone on tour. On a set-up that has rewarded those who find greens and can reliably two-putt, his lack of length has not carried any penalty.
The unknown is how he will handle the pressure. When Rai led after 36 holes at Myrtle Beach last weekend in pursuit of his second PGA Tour title, he wilted to fifth and this stage is substantially bigger for a man who has never finished higher than 19th in a major.
Like many, he was entirely unaware of the wait for an English winner, saying after his round: ‘The first that I heard of that statistic was a few minutes ago. I didn’t realize that that was the case. It’s amazing to be in this position but I also know there’s such a long way to go. A lot of things can and will change tomorrow so I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself.’
Another area of intrigue concerns Rahm, a full three years after his last major win and a matter of weeks on from learning his employers at LIV had lost their Saudi sugar daddies.
A three-putt bogey at the last cost him a share of the overnight lead, but his desperation to win a third major is palpable. For LIV, it might even be essential that he gets over the line if they are to attract fresh investment. His 67 was built on five birdies and only two bogeys.
Scottie Scheffler admitted he was shocked by the depth of the chasing pack at Aronimink
Jon Rahm has not won a major for three years and a win could be crucial for his LIV employers
Rory McIlroy drove the green of the par four sixth hole in one before carding a birdie in his 66
Aberg’s need is less urgent but he does carry with him the question of whether this will be the week that he capitalises on a prodigious talent. Keeping his composure on a Sunday has been a recurring issue for the Swede. A round of 68 in the stiffer afternoon breezes showed there is nothing wrong with the state of his game.
Plenty will also wager on McIlroy, whose driving continues to improve – by reaching the green of the par four sixth in one, before carding a birdie in his 66, he showed the spring is back in his step.
After concluding, he said he would retreat to his hired house to watch Batman. For so long, Rose has appeared his Robin on these stages but he too is firmly in the mix.
Much fuss has been made of his switch to clubs designed by a Formula One team but a brilliant 65 in the calmer morning conditions was built on tremendous accuracy with those maligned irons. Evidently a McLaren can turn a corner on grass.
