Alex Smalley grabs solo 54-hole lead, two shots clear at PGA Championship

Alex Smalley will start the final round of the PGA Championship with the lead after a Saturday leaderboard that barely held still. The 29-year-old shot a 2-under 68 at Aronimink Golf Club to reach 6-under 204, the only player under par in all three rounds. By the end of the day, Smalley was two shots clear of a five-man group at 4-under and three ahead of another cluster at 3-under. The result left the year’s second major open heading into Sunday in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. (pgatour.com) ### How did Smalley get back in front after a shaky start? Smalley recovered with six birdies over his last 10 holes after a start that briefly knocked him off the top of the board. (pgatour.com) The Associated Press report carried by PGA Tour said his finish included a birdie putt from just inside 15 feet that moved him to 6-under and preserved a two-shot edge. “I’m trying to downplay that as much as I possibly can just to make it seem like any other golf tournament,” Smalley said after the round. He added that “essentially that’s all it really is,” according to the PGA Tour’s AP report. (pgatour.com) Smalley is still seeking his first PGA Tour victory and is playing only his fifth major championship. ### Who is chasing him into Sunday? Jon Rahm, Aaron Rai, Nick Taylor, Ludvig Åberg and Matthias Schmid were tied for second at 4-under after 54 holes, according to the official PGA Championship leaderboard. Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed and Maverick McNealy were another shot back at 3-under. (pgatour.com) Scottie Scheffler was at 1-under, five shots behind Smalley, after a 71. The AP report said Scheffler missed six putts inside 10 feet, four of them for birdie, during the third round. ### How crowded was this leaderboard on Saturday? (pgatour.com) Fourteen players held at least a share of the lead at some point during the third round, according to the AP report on PGA Tour. With about an hour left, the tournament still had a seven-way tie for first. (pgachampionship.com) Midway through the round, 28 players were separated by two shots, the same report said. Rahm and McIlroy both spent time tied for the lead before Smalley’s back-nine surge restored separation. (pgatour.com) ### What did the contenders say about the setup? Rahm said the difficulty of Aronimink was part of what kept the field compressed. “The challenge can also be kind of fun if you do well,” Rahm said, adding, “it’s going to be such a good Sunday tomorrow,” according to the AP report. (pgatour.com) Scheffler described the board as unusually congested. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Scheffler said after finishing five back, according to the AP report. He added: “Going into tomorrow, it’s quite literally anybody’s tournament.” (pgatour.com) ### Why is Smalley’s position notable? Smalley arrived at Aronimink without a PGA Tour win and without a top-20 finish in a major, the AP report said. The same report noted that he came into the week off three straight top-20 finishes, giving him recent form even if he lacked major-championship pedigree. (pgatour.com) Aronimink is hosting the PGA Championship for the first time in 64 years, according to an earlier AP report published by PGA Tour after the second round. That setting has produced a tournament where no player has been able to build a large cushion through three days. (pgatour.com) ### What happens Sunday? The final round is scheduled for Sunday, May 17, at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where the 108th PGA Championship runs from May 11-17, according to the official championship site. Smalley will tee off with a two-shot lead over Rahm, Rai, Taylor, Åberg and Schmid, with McIlroy, Schauffele and Reed still within three shots entering the last 18 holes. (pgatour.com) (pgachampionship.com) (pgatour.com)