PGA Championship R3 leaderboard: Big names chase unheralded Alex Smalley at Aronimink

Unheralded American Alex Smalley will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the PGA Championship. 

The 29-year-old, who is yet to win on the PGA Tour and has never held a 54-hole lead, went round Aronimink Golf Club on moving day in two-under 68. 

He is on six-under overall, two clear of a group of five players that includes two-time major winner and LIV Golf recruit Jon Rahm. 

Masters champion Rory McIlroy surged up the leaderboard with a 66 and is three adrift of the lead. 

Defending champion and the top-ranked Scottie Scheffler went backwards on Saturday with a one-over 71 but is only five adrift of Smalley. 

"I don't want to toot my own horn or anything, and I mean this in the nicest way possible," Smalley said. "[But] I've been fortunate enough to play well the last few weeks to where that's starting to become a norm, if you want to call it that.

"Once you see cameras show up, you know that you're doing something that's, I guess, worthy of having a camera there.

"So I recognise that, but I just try to stay in my own little world and just try to take care of my business and just try to hit each shot the best that I can."

Smalley got off to a dreadful start, dropping three shots on his first four holes. 

After making the turn in 37 strokes, Smalley put circles on his card at the 10th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th.

"The wind was certainly up when we first started the round," Smalley added. "I mean, it was playing fairly difficult.

"Obviously I wasn't watching coverage, so I had no idea how maybe the four or five guys, the groups in front of me, had started, but it certainly was not easy.

"It certainly wasn't as easy as some of the guys had it in the morning when the wind wasn't as strong. 

"I was able to hit a few more fairways on the back nine, was able to take care of some of the scorable holes, I guess, if you want to call them that, but the wind died down a little bit on the back nine."

Smalley will play in the final group alongside Matti Schmid. He the German is a "great guy" and gets along well with him. 

"Anybody who wants to play golf for a living dreams of winning on the PGA Tour when they're younger," he added. 

"I recognise that I have an opportunity to do that tomorrow. I recognise that it's on a stage that's a little bit larger than most other Tour events. 

"I'm trying to downplay that as much as I possibly can just to make it seem like any other golf tournament, because essentially that's all it really is.

"It would be pretty cool to actually pull it out tomorrow."

Rahm ignoring the LIV Golf noise

Jon Rahm was one of 11 LIV Golf who arrived at the PGA Championship with hopes of lifting the Wanamaker Trophy. 

Only six LIV players made the cut. Bryson DeChambeau was the highest-profile player to depart after 36 holes. 

But Rahm is right in the thick of and will believe wholeheartedly that he can take control in the final round and win his first major title since the 2023 Masters. 

The future of the breakaway tour is uncertain after LIV's financiers announced two weeks ago they are no longer willing to finance the venture after the conclusion of the 2026 season. 

Rahm faced plenty of questions at the beginning of the week about the future of LIV and whether he regrets his decision to leave the PGA Tour. 

But the European Ryder Cup star is attempting to block out that noise. 

"Honestly, in a week like this, one, I'm thinking more about myself," Rahm said when asked how meaningful it would be to deliver a big win for his LIV colleagues. 

"I'm not going to take on anything outside what I can control when it comes to competing tomorrow.

"If I do get it done and I sit here again tomorrow, then you can ask me the same question, and I'll give you an answer. 

"But what it would mean for Spain as well in the grand slam tally and being the last leg of the grand slam for us as well, there's a lot of things that would mean a lot, but too much of it is out of my control.

"So hopefully I can keep doing what I've done so far this week, especially today, and I get the chance to answer that tomorrow."

Scottie Scheffler has never seen anything like this

World number one Scheffler, 29, toiled in the tough conditions on Saturday. 

A gutsy par putt at the 18th saw him sign for a 71 and he is five adrift of the lead heading into the final round. 

Scheffler, who hit out at the "absurd" pin positions after round two, said he had never seen a leaderboard like this before. 

"Going into tomorrow, it's quite literally anybody's tournament," Scheffler said. "There's a lot of guys that have a chance. 

Going into tomorrow, somebody is going to have a great round, and I'm going to make sure to do my best to give myself my best shot at being the one who has a great round."

Rory McIlroy walks back "bad setup" comments

Rory McIlroy surged into contention on moving day and at one point shared the lead. 

McIlroy mixed six birdies and two bogeys to sign for a 66. 

Playing alongside Brooks Koepka, the Northern Irishman raced out of the blocks and hit the turn in 32 strokes. 

Birdies at 11 and 13 lifted him to five-under. 

He endured a scrappy finish, duffing a greenside bunker shot at the 17th to drop one stroke.

McIlroy was then forced to scramble to save his par down the 18th after finding the gnarly rough with his tee shot. 

After the second round, McIlroy claimed the bunched up leaderboard demonstrated the course was setup poorly. 

But he walked back those comments on Saturday, clarifying: "What I was trying to say when you have these big old golf courses that are renovated and their wide fairways and wide greens and you tuck the pins away, everyone plays the exact same way and that's why you see such a bunched leaderboard."

McIlroy, who plans to watch Batman on Netflix tonight, added: "If I'm reflecting on the last three days, I think there's been a really good balance of tough pins and then pins that you can get at a little bit more."