US PGA Championship 2026: Alex Smalley leads, McIlroy, Rahm, Rose, Rai and Scheffler in mix
The third round of golf tournaments is often known as the ‘action day’ and it lived up to the billing at the US PGA Championship on Saturday as stars and lesser lights vied for a place on the crowded and fast-moving leaderboard.
Remarkably, 14 players held at least a share of the lead at one point and 30 will go into Sunday’s final round within five shots of surprise leader Alex Smalley, who is six under after a two-under 68.
While the more serious aspects of the course layout caused much debate during the first two days at Aronimink it looked more like the brutal test reserved for the US Open.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy (the two best players in the world) were among those who made less than complimentary observations; Scottie Scheffler went so far as to describe some of Friday’s pin positions as “ridiculous.”
The PGA of America listened. The governing body has moved up some t-shirts and made a few badges more accessible; This, combined with better conditions, created a classic major leaderboard featuring a mix of heavy hitters and less famous names.
Many big players benefited from more favorable scoring conditions in the early stages.
McIlroy, who was outside the top 100 after Thursday’s opening four-over 74, improved his hopes of following up his successful Masters defense last month with a third US PGA title by improving to three-under on Friday’s 67.
Other big winners who managed to move up the leaderboard included Justin Rose, who revived his hopes of a second major with a superb 65, and Jon Rahm, who was two ahead with a 67 to stake his claim at the third leg of his career Grand Slam.
Rose is not the only one trying to end the 107-year wait for the British champion of this championship, which also includes Aaron Rai, as well as Rahm, Ludvig Aberg, Nick Taylor and Matti Schmid.
Not everyone was successful. Scheffler, who shot a 65 on Saturday en route to winning last year’s US PGA, stuttered to a surprising 71 to remain in fifth place.
More to follow.
