Alex Smalley walked off the 18th green at Aronimink on Saturday afternoon as the unlikeliest 54-hole leader of any 2026 major championship, a third-round 68 stretching his advantage to two shots over a chasing pack that includes Jon Rahm, Ludvig Aberg, Aaron Rai, Nick Taylor and Matti Schmid. The 28-year-old Duke graduate is now the only player in the field to have broken par in all three rounds at Aronimink, and after rounds of 67-69-68 sits at 6-under for the championship.
It was an unlikely position to occupy after a brittle start. Smalley bogeyed three of his first four holes as the wind picked up, leaving him to scrape par putts of significant length and steady his nerves with a long save on the sixth.
'It was certainly difficult,' Smalley said in his post-round press conference. 'I had watched the coverage this morning before I arrived on property and saw that there were scores out there. Certainly at the beginning part of the golf course. Saw a lot of birdies being made. And then by the time that I teed off the wind had picked up. It became very difficult to hit a fairway, hit a green, even make a three or four footer.'
The turning point, in his own telling, was a par save on the sixth that bled into a tidy birdie on the seventh.
'I think the putt on six definitely helped calm me down a little bit,' Smalley said. 'I made a great par on six. Was able to find the fairway on seven which is very difficult to do with how that fairway slopes. Hit a good wedge shot and made birdie there. So that certainly helped ease me into the rest of the round.'
From there, Smalley settled into the rhythm-and-tempo philosophy that has carried his recent form.
'I just try to keep putting one foot in front of the other and just tried to regain my tempo and rhythm in my golf swing,' he said. 'Because when that gets off some I can start hitting it a little wayward. So I just tried to focus in on that.'
The back nine yielded the round. Smalley picked up unexpected birdies on the 10th, on a temporarily drivable 13th and again at 15, where he conceded he had not anticipated picking up a shot.
'Wasn't really expecting to pick one up there, but I did,' Smalley said of the 10th. 'They moved 13 up today and it was drivable. It's still a difficult hole cuz it's not very wide where the landing zone is or where that green is. Hit a great tee shot there, was able to get up and down. Wasn't expecting to make birdie on 15 either, but was able to pick another one up there.'
Pressed on whether the magnitude of leading a major felt too large, Smalley pushed back at the suggestion. He had played the third round paired with Maverick McNealy, another player operating outside the household-name conversation, and described the atmosphere as something close to ordinary.
'I don't know if it felt too big,' Smalley said. 'It was a comfortable pairing with Maverick. I've played with Maverick before. He's a great guy. I've been in the final group before a couple years ago. Obviously, nothing of this significance, if you want to call it that, or at this stage. Just felt like another golf tournament, honestly.'
On Sunday he will be paired with Matti Schmid, a friend since both turned professional in 2019. Smalley said the familiarity should suit him. There was also one historical curiosity he was happy to share. The Wanamaker Trophy that goes to the PGA Championship winner has a personal ring for the leader.
'When I was in college I stayed in the Wanamaker dorm for 3 years,' Smalley said. 'So my parents and I have been joking that maybe this would be a tournament that I would win just because of that kind of fact. It'd be pretty cool to actually pull it out tomorrow.'
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*Originally published on [Golf News Global](https://golfnews.global/article/alex-smalley-leads-2026-pga-championship-into-sunday-68-aronimink). Visit for full coverage.*
