A Long Streak of American PGA Championship Winners Is About to End

The last non-American PGA champion was Jason Day in 2015. Will another be crowned Sunday at Aronimink? The SI Golf staff debates.

Ludvig Aberg has come close in majors but is in a position to perhaps finally win one Sunday at a wide-open PGA Championship. | James Lang-Imagn Images

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Three rounds of the 108th PGA Championship are in the books and your guess is as good as ours on how this might end.

Alex Smalley, who has yet to win on the PGA Tour, leads by two shots and 21 players are within four shots of him—including a gaggle of major champions including Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Reed. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is five back.

And if you look at the flags on the leaderboard, you’ll plenty of Europe, Canada (Nick Taylor), Japan (Hideki Matsuyama) and Australia (Cam Smith, Min Woo Lee) in pursuit. Even a Chilean in Joaquin Niemann.

With that in mind, might a 10-year streak of American PGA Championship winners be in danger? That sounds like a topic for the SI Golf team to ponder, Fact or Fiction-style:

Ten straight PGA Championships have been won by American players. That streak ends Sunday.

Bob Harig, SI Golf Senior Writer: FACT. There's a lot of potential for an international player to win. Jon Rahm, Ludvig Åberg and Rory McIlroy top the list. But if we're going to get an outlier, certainly Nick Taylor is capable and Matti Schmid and Aaron Rai are right there. While I don't discount American Xander Schauffele, I'm going with Rory at this point to get a second straight major. 

Jeff Ritter, SI Golf Managing Director: FACT. I mean, it’s possible an American pulls it off, and there are plenty of contenders. But this thing is so wide open, and several international players are lurking (and leading). I’d hitch my wagon to Rory or Rahm as it stands now.  

Michael Rosenberg, SI Senior Writer: FACT. Alex Smalley will have to sleep on a two-stroke lead and then hold off a slew of big names to win his first PGA Tour win of any kind. That’s a big ask. Scottie Scheffler is not that far off the lead, but he needs to pass 22 players in 18 holes. That’s also a big ask. It would not be surprising if Xander Schauffele wins, Patrick Reed has a legitimate chance, and there are a few other Americans lurking. But I’ll take my chances with Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Åberg and the rest of the non-Americans. 

John Schwarb, SI Golf Senior Editor: FACT. Now that the dust has settled from a crazy Saturday at Aronimink, I look at this leaderboard and don’t see enough American horses. Yes, Alex Smalley leads (h/t to our betting expert Iain Macmillan, who thought this was possible) but closing is something else. Xander Schauffele and Patrick Reed are very worthy candidates but there’s also Jon Rahm, an improving-every-round Rory McIlroy and a first-major-hunting Ludvig Åberg, and come Sunday night I think one of those three Europeans hoists the Wanamaker.