A Historic Pack of Challengers Eyes PGA Title, Where Alex Smalley Leads

A tougher-than-expected test at Aronimink has a surprising 54-hole leader with 11 major champions and others in pursuit, Bob Harig writes.

Alex Smalley has yet to win a PGA Tour event yet finds himself with a two-shot lead heading to Sunday at the season's second major. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Strong winds helped blow away pre-tournament predictions, as did pin placements that had players shaking their heads. Jon Rahm wondered what he was missing. He had trouble believing scoring would be low at Aronimink Golf Club and the two-time major champion was somewhat glad to be vindicated.

After 54 holes of the PGA Championship, a tougher-than-expected test has led to jam-packed leaderboard and all manner of conjecture as to who will emerge the champion of the year’s second major championship.

Rahm, who three-putted the final hole to fall out of a then-tie at the top and ended up two shots back of leader Alex Smalley, didn’t seem surprised at all.

“Credit to the PGA [of America] for the setup,” Rahm said. “They found some incredible hard pin locations out there. Usually when we’re practicing, we put our disks out [to simulate holes], and there’s definitely quite a few that I would have told [caddie] Adam [Hayes], man, there’s no way they’re going to put a pin there, and they did. So we found a way to keep it all close together.

“As hard as it is to play, the challenge can also be kind of fun if you do well. That’s probably the reason why the leaderboard is so bunched up and it’s going to be such a good Sunday. So in that sense, showmanship-wise, they’ve done a great job.”

PGA Championship Leaderboard: Alex Smalley leads, 21 within four shots

There was considerable consternation over the pin positions, especially during Friday’s second round, and it came from the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, neither of whom was complaining but nonetheless acknowledging that the hole locations were such that good scoring was thwarted.

That meant a 36-hole lead of 136, 4 under par—with only one player managing to get farther than that under par on Saturday.

Smalley, who shared the lead with Maverick McNealy and opened with three bogeys in his first four holes, rebounded to shoot 68 and takes a two-shot lead into the final round over five players, with another four players only two back and 12 more only three behind.

None of them is Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion who is tied for 23rd but just four shots back.

Defending PGA champion Scottie Scheffler is four shots back with 22 players ahead of him. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Scheffler said. “When we were out there, 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.

“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.”

Smalley, 29, is the 10th player in the last 30 years to hold an outright 54-hole lead at a major championship having not previously won a PGA Tour event. Only Louis Oosthuizen at the 2010 British Open went on to win. Prior to that, it was Ernie Els at the 1994 U.S. Open.

He’ll be in the final group with Germany’s Matti Schmid who shot a third-round 65 but is tied with the likes of Rahm (67) and Ludvig Åberg (68).

McIlroy shot 66 to finish at 207, 3 under par and in a tie for seventh, just three strokes back of Smalley. He’s tied with fellow major champions Xander Schauffele (66) and Patrick Reed (67).

Rory McIlroy is three back in a tie for seventh after a Saturday 66. | James Lang-Imagn Images

There are 11 major champions in the top 30.

“My PGA Tour career isn’t necessarily very long at this point, but I’ve never seen anything like it,” said
Åberg, 26, who is from Sweden. “It’s very tight. I think there’s a lot of good players within striking distance going into tomorrow, and it’s a cool thing, I think, for the viewers. I think it’s cool to see that many guys have a chance to win a tournament.

“But it doesn’t necessarily change the way you play this golf course. I think the way it’s set up with a lot of difficult golf holes, a lot of strong par-3s and difficult shots into some of these par-4s, there’s not a whole lot you can do differently. So I think that’s why we’re seeing a tight leaderboard, but it also makes it exciting for tomorrow.”

Predictions of Aronimink being a birdiefest are proving to be dead wrong

McIlroy said prior to the tournament that he didn’t believe Aronimink required a lot of strategy. He felt the par-4s were vulnerable and that a player could blast a driver and figure it out from there.

But he was frustrated by a first-round 74 and noted that the pin positions were a strong defense of the course.

Rahm chuckled on Saturday when he was reminded that scoring was expected to be low.

“I would like to know who came up with that, by the way,” Rahm said. “Honestly, when I heard people talking about 20 under par, it made me question my ability to read a golf course, because I was looking at the greens and where they could put pin locations and possible wind, I just—my mind was never—I actually got worried. I’m like if somebody shoots 20 under, the amount of records they’re going to break this week would be unheard of.”

That is far from the case now. Players had their chance to go low Saturday on an easier setup and even that didn’t see the red numbers go very deep. The result is a lot of players with an opportunity to win a major championship Sunday.