NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pennsylvania, May 17 – Alex Smalley, considered a longshot before the tournament began, finds himself in unfamiliar territory as he prepares for Sunday’s final round of the PGA Championship with a two-stroke advantage over a crowded field of competitors.
The golfer, who had never been in contention at a major championship prior to this week, will face unprecedented pressure as a record-breaking 22 players sit within four shots of his lead at Aronimink Golf Club. Smalley held co-leader status after both the first and second rounds before securing his first solo 54-hole lead of his professional career with Saturday’s two-under 68, putting him at six-under for the tournament.
Smalley’s previous best performance in a major came at last year’s PGA Championship where he finished tied for 23rd place. He will tee off at 2:35 p.m. ET alongside Germany’s Matti Schmid, creating a final pairing of two golfers who have yet to claim a PGA Tour victory. The last occurrence of such a pairing was during the 2022 U.S. Open featuring Matt Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris.
Sitting two strokes behind the leader alongside Schmid are Spain’s Jon Rahm and Canada’s Nick Taylor, who make up the second-to-last group, while Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and England’s Aaron Rai will play in the group ahead of them.
Masters winner Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele are positioned three shots back from the leader.
Current world number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler began the day tied for 23rd position, five strokes behind the leader. Through his first six holes, Scheffler remained at even par after canceling out an early birdie with a bogey.
Kurt Kitayama, playing in the day’s fourth group, matched the major championship record for lowest final-round score with a flawless seven-under 63, finishing the tournament at three-under overall.
Kitayama’s performance puts him alongside Brad Faxon from 1995 as the only players to shoot a final-round 63 at a PGA Championship, and marks him as the ninth golfer to achieve this score in any major championship’s final round.
