PGA Championship 2026: Alex Smalley’s incredible resilience sets up the chance of a lifetime
The 29-year-old is only playing in his fifth major and has only one top-10 finish this year on tour. But that didn’t matter Saturday when his resilience helped set up a major opportunity.
Alex Smalley started Saturday tied for the lead at Aronimink with, perhaps expectations and pressure of his own, but not necessarily from anyone watching either in person or on television. That’s not to be disrespectful. But Smalley, the 29-year-old from North Carolina who played college golf at Duke, is playing in only his fifth major championship.
He did not qualify for the Masters. The last one he played was the PGA Championship last year at Quail Hollow. He has one top-10 finish in 12 starts this season on the PGA Tour.
So when Smalley bogeyed three of the first four holes Saturday to drop, that was it. He was no longer in the lead, out of his element and going to be an afterthought by the end of the week, right? Nope.
Smalley regrouped and birdied seven of the last 12 holes, including four of the last six, to shoot 68 and take a two-shot lead into the final round. He’s the only man to record three sub-70 rounds and will play with Germany’s Matti Schmid in the final pairing. The likes of Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele are not far behind.