NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Jon Rahm studied the leaderboard on the digital screen inside the player interview tent at Aronimink Golf Club. Once before he began his first answer, then again when answering a question in Spanish.
“Can we move this? How many of them are at 3 under?” Rahm asked a PGA of America official as he inspected a wall of minus-4s and minus-3s.
Even when his press conference was done, the two-time major champion hung back, asking questions, seemingly mystified that the PGA Championship had gotten this way.
At the time, Rahm was one of five co-leaders at 4 under par, and even though Alex Smalley emerged from the chaos late Saturday afternoon to grab a two-shot lead, the intrigue remained.
Five players are two shots behind Smalley, another four are three off the pace and 12 players are tied at 2 under. That’s 21 players who’ll go to bed Saturday night correctly believing they have a real shot to come from behind and win this major championship.
“I mean, my PGA Tour career isn’t necessarily very long at this point, but I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Ludvig Aberg of Sweden (4 under).
“It’s very tight. I think there’s a lot of good players within striking distance going into (Sunday), and it’s a cool thing, I think, for the viewers. I think it’s cool to see that many guys have a chance to win a tournament.”
It’s as wide-open of a major as men’s golf has seen in recent memory. The five-way tie for second behind an outright leader at the 54-hole mark is just the fifth in major championship history. The 22 players at or within four shots of the lead is a PGA Championship record, per The Athletic.
And though Smalley will have to fend off players with majors on their resume like Northern Ireland’s Rory McIIroy, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed (all at 3 under) and Rahm, six of the top 10 (counting Smalley) — and another eight of the 12-way tie at 2 under — are all angling for their first career major wins.
At a time when McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have collected four of the past five majors, it’s a chance for some new blood.
“I was pretty busy with the conditions out there, but I saw myself on top (of the leaderboard) once, and that was good,” said Germany’s Matti Schmid (4 under), who will play in the final pairing after posting 65 and, like Smalley, has never won on the PGA Tour.
The 2-under group features three players who shot 5-under 65s early in the day when the course was at its easiest: Chris Kirk, Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan and Englishman Justin Rose.
Rose said after his round that he hopes the lead doesn’t get past 6 or 7 under, and he got his wish. He also said carrying the lead into Sunday would come with a burden.
“There’s some chain reaction moments out there. If you don’t do the right thing — and if you’re a leader, you realize everyone is making a run, but if you don’t hit the right shot at the right time, it’s going to feel challenging out there,” said Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion.
McIlroy and others had posited that some of the PGA of America’s uber-difficult pin locations Thursday and Friday led to the bunched leaderboard, as nobody was taking chances, leading to a smaller variety of outcomes and scores.
A more lenient setup Saturday did little to spread players out. And that means high potential for a photo finish on Sunday evening.
“As hard as it is to play, the challenge can also be kind of fun if you do well,” Rahm said. “That’s probably the reason why the leaderboard is so bunched up and it’s going to be such a good Sunday tomorrow. So in that sense, showmanship-wise, they’ve done a great job.”
–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
