![\"Aaron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/98163dae-5263-49f7-bb31-8b3b6fa03cee.jpg\")
Rai was left to rue an ugly finish to his roundCarolyn Kaster\/AP<\/p>\nAfter using a four-letter swear word to describe his first round and damning the Aronimink set-up after his second, Rory McIlroy finally found his mojo at the US PGA Championship. Asked for a new adjective to update his fortunes, he settled for \u201cbetter\u201d, adding: \u201cNo profanity today, keep it clean.\u201d<\/p>\n
He cleaned up his game too. The six-times major winner was outside the top 100 on Thursday night, but as the beast of Aronimink turned into a fireside tabby cat, he finished three strokes behind the American leader, Alex Smalley \u2014 who played the back nine beautifully to sit at six under par \u2014 and one behind a cluster comprising England\u2019s Aaron Rai, Jon Rahm, Ludvig Aberg, Matti Schmid and Nick Taylor. After the shakiest start, Smalley, the world No78, belied the fact that he has never won on tour and his underdog\u2019s tale remains a work in progress. <\/p>\n
Rahm and Rai were left to rue ugly finishes to their rounds but there are only four shots separating the top 22 and a delicious denouement is looming. Justin Rose, who had needed a chip-in eagle to even make the weekend, is one of those after making the most of the reprieve. Pushing 46, he is still pushing the envelope, and his 65 continues to make observers rethink the golden age of golfers. <\/p>\n
Rai was left to rue an ugly finish to his roundCarolyn Kaster\/AP<\/p>\n
If Rai or Rose can stay the pace they will become the first English winner of the US PGA since Long Jim Barnes in 1919. Rai is a top-50 player with both PGA and DP World Tour wins, but he often flies under the radar. He had six birdies and it would have been even better but for an underhit eagle chance on the 16th and the rough-bunker-frown bogey on the 18th. At the very least, though, this should be his best major yet. <\/p>\n
He has ploughed a distinctive furrow to get this chance. In a game where the landscape has been despoiled by money in recent years, he refreshingly does not have an agent. The product of a working-class family from Wolverhampton, he has worn two gloves since endless practising in Winter weather, while the covers for his irons are a tribute to his father buying him Titleist blades as a boy and cleaning them with a pin and baby oil. He has also battled through back and neck injuries this year, so there is much to admire about his attitude.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
McIlroy\u2019s rise was ominous for the rest, though, along with the resurgence of Rahm after the brouhaha over paying his DP World Tour fines for LIV Golf appearances and much proxy psychoanalysis of his mood. He said \u201cask me tomorrow\u201d regarding what a win would do for selling LIV to new investors, and was much more thrilled by the prospect of a victory meaning Spanish players would have won every major. Unlike many, Rahm also refrained from criticising the course set-up. \u201cCredit to the PGA,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Rory](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3a7573c9-1d76-4abf-80d2-14f2da490509.jpg\")
McIlroy\u2019s form is ominous for his rivals Reuters<\/p>\n
McIlroy has been less impressed but his recovery was helped by being able to drive a 397-yard green and get an up-and-down birdie from a greenside bunker on another par four. He had predicted that he could make hay with his wedges if the wind settled and so it proved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Thursday he had dealt with his round by going to the range for a mammoth session to correct his problems with the driver. This time he said he was going home to watch Batman. \u201cI\u2019ve climbed out of that hole a bit and I\u2019m proud of myself for doing that,\u201d he said after signing for a 66 and finishing at three under par. Not quite a case of zero to superhero, but it has been quite the plot twist.<\/p>\n
Only four players have ever won a major after being outside the top 50 after the opening round, most recently Mark O\u2019Meara at the 1998 Open, but this was McIlroy with the pressure and handbrake off. Even Scott O\u2019Neil, the LIV Golf chief executive watching from a hospitality box by the 9th tee, admitted he is \u201cbox office\u201d.<\/p>\n
A dropped shot on the 17th irritated him, but was nothing compared with the mood of a misfiring Scottie Scheffler who was seven clear of McIlroy on Thursday night and is now two behind after an awful day with his putter.<\/p>\n
With the wind picking up in the afternoon, McIlroy timed his run well.\u00a0There were low scores everywhere in the morning wave and Rose set the tone. That old wag Lee Trevino has a line for every theme, so when it came to veteran status, he quipped: \u201cThe older I get, the better I used to be.\u201d Rose is debunking that particular gag, still capable of being a man of the moment.<\/p>\n
![\"Jon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8441b5a1-05d1-4da4-9fdc-d7e4a03bad5d.jpg\")
Rahm finished with a bogey to sit at four under parCarl Recine<\/p>\n
For most of the first two days, he was battling the course, pin positions, wind and, according to some premature assessments, his new McLaren irons. Four consecutive birdies, the first time anyone had done that in the field this week, came from deft approaches and showed the rest what was possible. He was out in 30 shots, only the second man aged 45 or more to do that at a major. When he then worked some magic from a bunker and found a sixth birdie at the 13th, he was one away and he finished the day on two under.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Justin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9adf5d93-bb13-4f94-a3de-f4345619b589.jpg\")
Rose is enjoying his new McLaren ironsFrank Franklin II<\/p>\n