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The American started the day in a share of the lead and bogeyed three of his first four holes, but stormed home to reach six-under with a round of 68.<\/p>\n
Smalley, who has never won in 140 starts on the PGA Tour, reeled off five back nine birdies, and seven in his last 12 holes, to nab the 54-hole lead in a world ranking event for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old put an exclamation point on his superb fight back with a birdie at the last to move two shots clear of Jon Rahm, Aaron Rai, Ludvig Aberg, Matthias Schmid and Nick Taylor at four-under par. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t the start I had foreseen for myself. I had trouble on one, two and three yesterday and had trouble again today,\u201d Smalley told Sky Sports post-round.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made a nice par putt on six to settle myself a little bit, then hit a good wedge shot on seven and was able to make that putt. That helped kind of steady the ship. But after a start like that, it\u2019s easy for things to go south but I tried to hang in there as best as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n
LEADERBOARD: Live scores from the PGA Championship<\/a><\/p>\n A whopping 14 players held the lead at different points of the day, meaning the tournament remains wide-open despite Smalley\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n He knows that he will have a serious fight on his hands to clinch a breakthrough major victory.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will certainly be difficult to ignore a lot of the things. I feel like I\u2019ve done a pretty good job in the first three days to stick to my business and treat it like any other golf tournament,\u201d Smalley told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad flew up this morning from home, so it\u2019s nice to have him here and my mum kinda travels with me, so it\u2019s great to have everyone\u2019s support here.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been in the final group before, but obviously not on a stage like this. There\u2019s a lot of people up around the top of the leaderboard, so it\u2019s a wide-open golf tournament and I will try to hit the best shot I can and see where that takes me.\u201d<\/p>\n Rahm shot a three-under par 67 to join Germany\u2019s Schmid and Canada\u2019s Taylor, who both shot 65, at the top of the leaderboard for most of the afternoon.<\/p>\n The Spaniard had a golden chance to claim the outright lead, but three-putted at the last to drop back to four-under par.<\/p>\n Englishman Rai suffered a similar slip up with his second shot on 18 finding a bunker, leading to a bogey to surrender the solo lead.<\/p>\n Alex Smalley of the United States hits a tee shot on the 14th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n Smith snapped his streak of six straight missed cuts at majors with a solid opening two rounds, but on the back nine on moving day, he put himself firmly in with a chance of clinching a second major title.<\/p>\n The 2022 Open champion reached the turn 35, but gained momentum with an up-and-down birdie at the par 5 ninth.<\/p>\n It was the first of a hat-trick of birdies midway through his round with Smith draining a 14-footer at ten and sticking a wedge to inside five-feet at 11.<\/p>\n A bogey at 12 as a result of wayward approach shot was the only blemish on the way home as the Queenslander responded with another birdie via a beautiful approach on 13 before finishing with five straight pars.<\/p>\n The LIV Golf star made the big decision to change swing coaches in the lead-up to the second major of the year.<\/p>\n He had been coached by fellow Australian Grant Field since he was a youngster but has employed Claude Harmon III to try tighten up his swing.<\/p>\n The change has proved effective so far, but Smith hit just six fairways in the third round as he returned to his old self with his beautiful iron and wedge play, and stellar putting, doing most of the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n Cameron Smith of Australia hits a tee shot on the second hole during the third round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n Lee, meanwhile, shot a one-over par 71 but fought back gallantly late in his round to stay in the mix.<\/p>\n The 27-year-old stumbled early with back-to-back bogeys at three and four after starting the day one shot off the lead.<\/p>\n He responded with consecutive birdies at five and six, but as he approached the turn the West Australian\u2019s tournament threatened to derail.<\/p>\n A double bogey at the ninth – where he found the rough off the tee and at the back of green, taking to two chips to escape – was costly.<\/p>\n A three-putt bogey at the 12th then dropped Lee back to three-over par for the day.<\/p>\n He showed immense fight in the final third of his round, however.<\/p>\n Lee birdied 13 by driving the green at the 292-yard par 4 and then capped off his day by holing a near 35-foot birdie putt at the last to return to two-under.<\/p>\n It was the first birdie on the 18th in more than four hours as the closing hole proved to be a headache for many in the field.<\/p>\n NEWTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA – MAY 16: Min Woo Lee of Australia reacts to a tee shot on the eighth hole during the third round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on May 16, 2026 in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Carl Recine\/Getty Images\/AFP (Photo by Carl Recine \/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA \/ Getty Images via AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n Jason Day fell down the leaderboard with a five-over par 75.<\/p>\n The former world No.1 has slipped to four-over for the tournament with double bogeys at 10 and 17 ruining his round.<\/p>\n There were 43 players on level par or better within six strokes of the lead. There were 22 were within four.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not overly surprised,\u201d Rahm said of the packed leaderboard. \u201cIt\u2019s an extremely difficult golf course… you have to play really good golf to give yourself a chance out there.\u201d Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler fired a 71 to finish on 209, only three back.<\/p>\n A breakout day at Aronimink saw more than dozen players rise into the lead and fall back after two rounds of brisk winds and tough pin placements on sloped greens had kept leaders bunched.<\/p>\n Rahm, trying to become the first Spaniard to capture the PGA crown, sank birdie putts of 22 feet at the first hole and 30 feet at the par-three fifth.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a fantastic round of golf and thrilled to be in a good position for tomorrow,\u201d Rahm said.<\/p>\n Jon Rahm of Spain reacts to a tee shot on the 17th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n Rahm has won the past two LIV Golf season titles and has two wins and three runner-up efforts to lead this season.<\/p>\n Rai, who birdied six of the first 11 holes, hopes to become the first Englishman to take the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes won the first two editions in 1916 and 1919.<\/p>\n \u201cAmazing to be in this position. A lot of really good golf to be here,\u201d Rai said. \u201cI also know there\u2019s such a long way to go. A lot of things can and will change tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier, Rory McIlroy birdied six of the first 13 holes to seize a share of the lead at one point.<\/p>\n Midway co-leaders Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley were preparing to tee off when McIlroy joined them atop the leaderboard at four-under par with a five-foot birdie putt at the 13th after blasting out of a bunker.<\/p>\n All the frontrunners were targets for the pursuing stars on a breakout day at the 7,934-yard layout after two days of brisk winds and difficult pin placements on sloped greens kept leaders bunched.<\/p>\n World number two McIlroy opened with a birdie and answered a bogey at the fourth with birdies at the fifth, sixth and par-five ninth, pitching 53 yards from the fairway to three feet and set up a birdie to climb within two shots at the turn.<\/p>\n McIlroy, who captured his sixth major title at last month\u2019s Masters, sank a 10-foot birdie putt at the 11th before matching the leaders at 13.<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n R2 Wrap \u2014 Aussie in the mix despite rollercoaster PGA Champs round as Smith finally snaps horror streak<\/a><\/p>\n \ufeff\u2018Have you seen anything like this?\u2019: Scheffler slams \u2018absurd\u2019 move as brutal test sparks chaos<\/a><\/p>\n