{"id":488,"date":"2026-05-17T05:33:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T05:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=488"},"modified":"2026-05-17T05:33:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T05:33:33","slug":"alex-smalley-takes-2-shot-lead-in-a-pga-championship-up-for-grabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=488","title":{"rendered":"Alex Smalley takes 2-shot lead in a PGA Championship up for grabs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The PGA Championship where no one could take control Saturday is now the major that practically everybody can win.<\/p>\n

Read more Sen. Bill Cassidy\u2019s defeat shows the price of dissent in Trump\u2019s Republican Party<\/a><\/p>\n

Alex Smalley at least gets a head start thanks to his sublime play on the back nine at Aronimink Golf Club, with six birdies over his last 10 holes for a 2-under 68 and a two-shot lead.<\/p>\n

His finishing kick kept this PGA Championship from having the largest 54-hole logjam in major championship history. There was a seven-way tie for the lead with an hour to go in the third round, and players with highest pedigree all within range.<\/p>\n

Fourteen players had at least a share of the lead Saturday. Midway through the third round, 28 players were separated by two shots. And not just any players.<\/p>\n

Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy were among those tied at one point. Xander Schauffele and and Patrick Reed were right behind. About the only one who failed to seize on the moment was defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who missed six putts inside 10 feet, four of them for birdie.<\/p>\n

Smalley’s final birdie putt from just inside 15 feet put him at 6-under 204, two shots ahead of Rahm, three ahead of McIlroy Schauffele and Reed.<\/p>\n

Scheffler made a 9-foot bogey putt on the last hole and was five behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like this,\u201d Scheffler said. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a leaderboard like this, this bunched up. Going into tomorrow, it\u2019s quite literally anybody\u2019s tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it starts with Smalley, the 29-year-old who lives in North Carolina and is playing only his fifth major, never cracking the top 20. He’s also never won on tour, but he’s been rounding into form lately. He is coming up three straight finishes in the top 20.<\/p>\n

He looked like he might crack early, playing in the final group with Maverick McNealy, spraying the ball off the tee and opening with three bogeys in four holes to disappear from the enormous crowd atop the leaderboard.<\/p>\n

But even amid the big gusts and fast, scary greens, Smalley was resilient as ever. He took the lead with a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-4 15th \u2014 551 yards into the wind \u2014 stretched it two shots by reaching the par-5 16th in two for another birdie and then had a bogey-birdie finish.<\/p>\n

Read more Three Derby horses raced in Preakness on short rest. None finished higher than 4th<\/a><\/p>\n

Rahm had a careless three-putt bogey on the final hole that slightly soiled his 3-under 67, but he was part of the five-way tie for second with Ludvig Aberg of Sweden (68), Matti Schmid of Germany (65), Nick Taylor Canada (65) and Aaron Rai of England (67).<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a fantastic round of golf and thrilled to be in a good position for tomorrow,\u201d Rahm said.<\/p>\n

McIlroy began the third round five shots behind but with 29 players ahead of him. He blasted his way to a 4-under 66 \u2014 his 25th score in a major at 66 or better. He wasn’t sure where that would leave him when he finished, except that did what he needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I still did enough to think I have a chance going into tomorrow,\u201d McIlroy said.<\/p>\n

Schauffele had a 66 and Reed bounced back with a 67, two shots behind along with McNealy, who bogeyed the final hole for a 71.<\/p>\n

The pin positions were far more accessible than the previous two days, as McIlroy had predicted. No one shot better than 65, though Chris Kirk had a double bogey on the 18th for one of those rounds. Justin Rose was outside the cut line on Friday until holing a chip from deep rough for eagle on his last hole to make it with one shot to spare. He shot 65 and was among those four shots behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have a set of greens like this, you can start to frustrate people pretty easily,\u201d McIlroy said. “It’s frustrating to us, but at the same time, it creates a hell of an entertaining championship. If I wasn\u2019t playing this tournament, I\u2019d love what\u2019s going on this week.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHere are five things to know about 7-time PGA Tour winner Scottie Scheffler.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\u201cBut watching and playing are two different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

What a show, indeed.<\/p>\n

The leading 10 players come from seven countries, four of them major champions. Taylor saw the leaderboards across Aronimink and kept right on walking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s so bunched, it\u2019s kind of pointless,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cI\u2019ll definitely be aware late tomorrow, if I\u2019m in that position. But with so many things going on, it\u2019s just a distraction if you start looking at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more A horse almost didn\u2019t race in the Preakness. Thanks to a jockey\u2019s suggestion, it won.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The PGA Championship where no one could take control Saturday is now the major that practically everybody can win, as Alex Smalley leads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pga-tour"],"yoast_head":"\nAlex Smalley takes 2-shot lead in a PGA Championship up for grabs - Jacksonville Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=488\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alex Smalley takes 2-shot lead in a PGA Championship up for grabs - 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