NEWTOWN SQUARE, PENNSYLVANIA | Who, you might ask, is Alex Smalley, the man who has come the closest to solving Aronimink’s many mysteries while building a two-stroke lead with 18 holes remaining in what has been a difficult-to-unravel PGA Championship to this point?
Smalley, 29, played his college golf at Duke, joined the PGA Tour in 2021 and has accumulated more than a dozen top-10 finishes without winning a tournament. Before Saturday, he had never held the 54-hole lead in a PGA Tour event, but he is the only player in the field to break par in each of the first three rounds, shooting 67-69-68 to sit at 6-under-par 204.
Here’s another thing:
Smalley’s mother, Maria, tracks every shot he hits in competition and has for years, giving him his own analytics specialist.
By making four birdies over his final six holes Saturday, Smalley separated himself by two strokes atop a leaderboard that feels otherwise overstuffed with 21 players sitting within four of the lead.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Scottie Scheffler, who uncharacteristically moved backward in the third round (he will start Sunday five back) after not making a putt as long as 10 feet since the first round.
Smalley, who shared the 36-hole lead with Maverick McNealy, seemed to fade from the scene almost immediately Saturday, with three bogeys in his first four holes. Seven birdies over his final 12 holes repaired the damage he had done and more.
Smalley arrived at Aronimink on a run of four straight top-20 finishes, allowing him to develop a comfort level with the growing attention that will ratchet up on Sunday.
Since its cold, windy start Thursday morning, this championship has had the feel of grinding factory work with the attendant drudgery through stretches.
“I don’t mean to toot my own horn but I’ve had that the last couple of weeks. I’ve been fortunate enough to play well the last few weeks to where it’s starting to become a norm,” Smalley said.
Since its cold, windy start Thursday morning, this championship has had the feel of grinding factory work with the attendant drudgery through stretches.
That’s not to suggest it has been underwhelming but, three rounds in, it has been more of a long cook than searing a juicy steak on a hot grill.
Some of that is the nature of major championship golf, though the PGA Championship has leaned more into birdies than bogeys over the years. Aronimink, which was buffeted by gusty winds again Saturday, has given this championship its demanding personality.
Why is there only one player better than 4-under par through 54 holes? The equation is simple: difficult weather conditions plus treacherous greens that inspire more caution than confidence.
“I feel like whenever it’s windy like that, especially when you have greens like this, you have to be creative. You have to play golf. You can’t sit there and focus on technique and be a robot,” said Patrick Reed, among the group three behind Smalley and one of five current or former LIV Golf players among the top 22.
As if to prove its benevolence after two hard days, the PGA of America offered a gentler setup Saturday and it showed. Only one player among the top 10 (third-round co-leader McNealy) failed to break par in the third round.
“The first two days presented something different. Today was a little bit easier with the pins. Tomorrow could be whatever they decide it to be,” said Xander Schauffele, who is part of the crowd sitting three behind Smalley.
Though he built a degree of separation with his late birdies, including one on the difficult 18th, Smalley can’t afford to look in his rearview mirror or he will see what may resemble a thundering herd behind him.
Jon Rahm and Ludvig Åberg are two back. So are the curious threesome of Aaron Rai, Nick Taylor and Matti Schmid.
Rory McIlroy, who shot 66 Saturday, is three back with Schauffele, Reed and McNealy.
Five players shot 65 on Saturday and another five shot 66, enough to tease the possibilities for Sunday’s finish after 12 players had a share of the lead during the third round. It tempered the frustration players vented after the first two days.
“Again, it’s frustrating to us, but at the same time, it creates a helluva entertaining championship. If I wasn’t playing this tournament, I’d love what’s going on this week, but watching and playing are two different things,” said McIlroy, who has a chance to win the season’s first two major championships after shooting his 25th round of 66 or lower in a major, second only to Tiger Woods’ 28.