Newtown Square Pa. The maxim on the four major championships in golf is that they are the domain of star players. But every few years there will be a name that not only contends but can actually see matters through all the way to ultimate triumph.

Case in point — Alex Smalley.

For 54 holes the 29-year-old has been utterly brilliant and is the only person in the field to have scored under-par rounds for each of the first three rounds — 67, 69 and 68. The Rochester, NY native capped off his play on Saturday with a closing birdie and enters the final round Sunday with a two-shot lead over five players, each of whom hail from different countries.

That list includes Matti Schmid (Germany), Nick Taylor (Canada), Aaron Rai (England), Jon Rahm (Spain), Ludvig Åberg (Sweden).

One shot behind that grouping includes the present Masters champion Rory McIlroy who scored a solid three-under-par 67 Saturday. Joining the Northern Irishman at the 207 total is two-time major winner Xander Schauffele, former Masters winner Patrick Reed and American Maverick McNealy.

30 players are within five shots of the lead and still with an outside opportunity to claim the Wannamaker Trophy. Defending champion and four-time major winner Scottie Scheffler is at 209 after finishing Saturday’s play with a second consecutive round of 71.

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Alex Smalley could become the 10th player since 1995 to hold the outright 54-hole lead of a major championship despite not having a single PGA Tour win on his resume. Only one of the previous nine held on to win. Here is the list:

The last such player to win a major championship was Ernie Els at the 1994 US Open. The last such player to win a PGA Championship was John Daly in 1991

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Smalley will need to come up big in the final round Sunday. The stage will be a completely new one for the golfer who played collegiately at Duke. Smalley did come into this year’s PGA Championship in good form – having finished T2 at the two-man Zurich Classic of New Orleans, T7 at the Cadillac and T17 at the Truist . His current world ranking is 78th.

Nonetheless, Smalley was posted as a 175-to-1 shot in winning the PGA Championship prior to teeing it up in Thursday’s first round.

Other long shots have claimed major championships since 2000. Names such as Ben Curtis, 2003 Open; Shaun Micheel, 2003 PGA Championship; Michael Campbell, 1995 US Open; and Mike Weir, 2003 Masters.

Smalley has never won a PGA Tour event and his appearance at Aronimink is only his fifth major championship in the field. He has also never held a 54-hole lead – whether solo or tied.

The pressure will be clearly present when he tees off at 2:35 PM local time. Credit Smalley for righting a possible sinking ship when he bogied three of his first four holes Saturday. The slide downward could have resulted in him free falling off the leaderboard. However, he turned matters around by making seven birdies along with two additional bogies for a score of 68.

The final pairing tomorrow will be comprised of two players — Smalley and Schmid — without a PGA Tour victory on their respective resumes. The last such final pairing of a major championship was at the 2022 US Open (Matt Fizpatrick and Will Zalatoris). The last such final pairing at the PGA Championship was also in 2022 (Mito Pereira and Matt Fitzpatrick).

Since 2000, there was one other such instance at the PGA Championship:  in 2003 (Shaun Micheel and Chad Campbell).

Final rounds in major championships are golf’s most pressure-packed moments. Those chasing him believe the opportunity is there for the taking given the newness of the situation for the current leader.

Can Smalley come up big on Sunday? He is now the man being hunted and with the bullseye on his back. The test ahead will be like no other he has faced.

Related: What they said following round three?

2026 PGA Championship / Aronimink.

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Thisa & Thata

• This is just the fifth major championship in history, and the second PGA Championship, in which we have an outright 54-hole leader being chased by as many as five players tied for second place! Other instances:

– 2024 Open Championship, Billy Horschel held a one-shot lead over 6 players (he finished T-2, two behind the winner Schauffele)
– 1993 PGA Championship, Greg Norman held a one-shot lead over 6 players (he lost in a playoff to Paul Azinger)
– 1968 Masters, Gary Player held a one-shot lead over 5 players (he finished T-7, 5 shots behind the winner Bob Goalby)
– 1960 Masters, Arnold Palmer held a one-shot lead over 5 players (he won by one shot over Ken Venturi).

• In 11 of the last 14 PGA Championships, the champion came out of the final group on Sunday.

• Rory McIlroy was T-105 on the leaderboard at the end of the first round after posting a 74 (+4) on Thursday. Only four players in history have ever won a major championship after being ranked 50th or worse on the leaderboard at the end of the first round:

– Steve Jones, 1996 US Open, was T-84 after R1
– Payne Stewart, 1989 PGA Championship, T-77 after R1
– Mark O’Meara, 1998 Open Championship, T-62 after R1
– John Mahaffey, 1978 PGA Championship, T-59 after R1

• Rory McIlroy carded his 25th major championship round of 66 or better on Saturday. Only Tiger Woods (28) has more. Jack Nicklaus (21) is third on the list.

• In 14 of the last 15 PGA Championships, the eventual winner was either leading or within 2 strokes of the lead at the end of the third round. The exception over this time is Justin Thomas, who came back from a 7-stroke deficit entering the final round to win at Southern Hills in 2022.

Since 1990, every winner except for Thomas in 2022 was among the Top 5 entering the final round. Thomas was T-7 through three rounds that year.

• In four of the last five PGA Championships, the eventual winner was leading (either tied or outright) at the end of the third round: