PGA Championship Round 3: Alex Smalley Survives a Moving Day Stampede to Lead by Two

Moving Day at Aronimink was less a race than a stampede, and when the dust settled, the player standing in front was the one nobody could knock off the first page all week.

Alex Smalley shot 2-under 68 to reach 6-under 204 and take a two-shot lead into the final round of the PGA Championship. Smalley is the only player in the field to break par in all three rounds. Behind Smalley sits a five-way tie for second at 4 under: Jon Rahm, Ludvig Åberg, Matti Schmid, Nick Taylor and Aaron Rai. Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed and Maverick McNealy are three back, and the Reuters count had 43 players within five shots.

Fourteen Leaders, One Survivor

The numbers from Saturday are absurd. Per the AP, 14 different players held at least a share of the lead at some point in the round. With about an hour left, there was a seven-way tie at the top. At one stage in the middle of the round, 28 players sat within two shots. The pins were more accessible than on Thursday and Friday, the morning was softer, and the field took advantage until the afternoon gusts came back.

Scottie Scheffler, who was right in the middle of it, summed up the scene. "Going into tomorrow, it's quite literally anybody's tournament," Scheffler said.

Smalley Wins the Back Nine

Smalley's day did not start like a leader's. Three bogeys in the first four holes knocked Smalley off the top of the board, and a 15-foot par save on the sixth was the putt that stopped the slide. From there, the 29-year-old went to work.

The shot that put Smalley back in front came on the par-4 15th, playing dead into the wind, where Smalley rolled in a 25-footer for birdie. On the par-5 16th, Smalley reached the green in two and made another birdie to push the lead to two. A bogey on 17 gave a shot back, but Smalley answered on the last, holing a birdie putt from just inside 15 feet to restore the two-shot cushion. That was six birdies after the rocky opening.

Smalley has never won on the PGA TOUR and has never finished better than 20th in a major, though Smalley arrived on a run of three straight top-20 finishes. Smalley is trying hard to keep the moment small. "I'm trying to downplay that as much as I possibly can," Smalley said, per the AP.

The Five-Man Wall at 4 Under

The chase group is a mix of pedigree and surprise. Rahm posted 67 and would be just one back if not for a careless three-putt bogey on the 18th. Rahm still sounded thrilled. "That was a fantastic round of golf, and thrilled to be in a good position for tomorrow," Rahm said, per Reuters.

Schmid and Taylor each fired 65 to rocket into the mix, and Åberg added a steady 68 to stay right on Smalley's heels. Rai, who opened the week with an even-par 70, has gone 69 and 67 since and quietly slid into the group without much fanfare. Taylor, for one, was not bothering with scoreboard math. "It's so bunched, it's kind of pointless," Taylor said.

McIlroy Climbs, Scheffler Leaks

McIlroy started the day five back and shot 66, his 25th round of 66 or better in a major, according to the AP. McIlroy made six birdies against two bogeys, and the round could have been better. McIlroy missed a birdie chance on the par-5 16th and made bogey on 17 from a plugged lie in a bunker. Still, the Masters champion is three back with the calendar Grand Slam still alive. "I feel like I still did enough to think I have a chance going into tomorrow," McIlroy said.

Schauffele matched that 66, and Reed shot 67 to join them at 3 under. Justin Rose, who scraped inside the cut line on Friday, fired a 65 to get to 2 under, alongside Cameron Smith, Martin Kaymer, Chris Gotterup and Hideki Matsuyama.

Scheffler went the other way. The defending champion shot 71 and slipped to 1 under, five back, after missing six putts from inside 10 feet, four of them for birdie. McNealy, Friday's co-leader, also shot 71 and bogeyed the final hole.

What Sunday Looks Like

Eleven major champions are within five shots of the lead, per the AP, and the top 10 represents seven countries. Smalley will go off in the final group carrying a two-shot lead, zero PGA TOUR wins and a $3.69 million first prize on the line. The players chasing range from the reigning Masters champion to several names still waiting on a first major of their own.

A two-shot lead at Aronimink this week has felt about as permanent as the wind direction. Sunday will tell whether Smalley can keep doing what nobody else has managed all week: stay under par every single day.

Catch up on the first two rounds in our Round 1 recap and Round 2 recap. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 3 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 3 recap and leaderboard), AP, Reuters. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.