Alex Smalley's 18th‑hole birdie moves him up, nets an $822,600 payday

Alex Smalley’s last putt on Sunday changed more than the final line on the leaderboard. At the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, Smalley birdied the 18th hole to move from a share of third into a tie for second at 6-under, alongside Jon Rahm. (pgatour.com) Aaron Rai won the tournament at 9-under for his first major title. ### How much did that final birdie actually change? (pgachampionship.com) The PGA Championship’s published payout table set second place at $2.214 million and third place at $1.394 million from a total purse of $20.5 million. Because Smalley’s birdie moved him out of a tie for third and into a tie for second, Golf Digest calculated the swing in his payout at $822,600. (pgatour.com) The math works because major purses are split by finishing position. A player tied for second receives the average of second- and third-place money, while a player in a multi-way tie for third receives the average of the occupied places below that spot. (pgatour.com) Smalley’s putt changed which pool he shared. ### Where did Smalley finish after the final round settled? The official leaderboard listed Rai first at 9-under and showed Rahm and Smalley tied for second at 6-under. Justin Thomas, Ludvig Åberg and Matti Schmid finished tied for fourth at 5-under. (pgachampionship.com) Golf Digest reported that Smalley had been in position to finish tied for third before the birdie at the last. The final putt moved him up one rung on the board even though Rai’s victory was already secure. (pgachampionship.com) ### Why did one putt create such a large money jump? The 2026 PGA Championship purse was one of the largest in major championship golf, with $20.5 million distributed across the field. The published table shows how steeply the payouts change near the top: $2.214 million for second, $1.394 million for third and $984,000 for fourth. (pgatour.com) Golf Digest said the $822,600 increase from Smalley’s final birdie was larger than any single previous PGA Tour payday of his career. That made the putt notable even beyond the tournament finish itself. (golfdigest.com) ### Why was Smalley part of the story all week? Alex Smalley began Sunday in the final group after taking the 54-hole lead at Aronimink. NBC Sports reported before the final round that the 29-year-old held the solo lead at 6-under in what had become a tightly packed major leaderboard. (pgachampionship.com) The Athletic described Smalley and Matti Schmid as examples of how a breakthrough week at a major can reshape a season even without a victory. Smalley did not win, but he left Aronimink with a runner-up finish in a major and one of the biggest checks of the week. (golfdigest.com) ### What comes next after Aronimink? The PGA Championship result is now reflected on the official leaderboard and payout sheet, with Rai as champion and Smalley tied for second. Those records are posted on the PGA Tour leaderboard and the PGA Championship prize-money page. (nbcsports.com) (pgatour.com) (nytimes.com)