Alex Smalley nearly pulled off the biggest result of his PGA Tour career at the 2026 PGA Championship, but after the tournament, the American admitted he was dealing with a situation he had never experienced before.

“Going into the weekend, I've never been in that situation before on a stage like that, so I had to get that, get used to that a little bit. But, yeah, I felt like I handled it decently well,” said Smalley during a press conference at Colonial CC on Tuesday, shared via ASAP Sports.

That confidence came from the way Smalley played through the first three rounds at Aronimink Golf Club. The American opened the tournament with a 67. The rounds of 69 and 68 to move to the top of the leaderboard heading into Sunday.

“Then going into Sunday was a little different, just because I was on the lead on my own by a couple of strokes. Once I got to the golf course on Sunday, it just felt like any normal round.”

The 29-year-old entered the final round with the lead at Aronimink Golf Club. He then eventually finished tied for second alongside Jon Rahm at 6-under par.

“I would say the lead-up going into overnight Saturday night and then waking up Sunday morning, it definitely felt a little different than it typically would. But by the time I got into my routine when I arrived on the golf course on Sunday, it felt pretty standard for the most part,” added Alex Smalley.

Alex Smalley credited familiar faces with helping him settle into the PGA Championship weekend

Both Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy shared the 36-hole lead at 4-under par after two rounds at Aronimink Golf Club. McNealy shot 67, and Smalley posted 69 on Friday.

“Well, going into Saturday, I was tied with Maverick, and so I guess we were both in the spotlight a little bit. It wasn't just me. I've mentioned a couple of times since a couple of weeks ago at the PGA that those two parings on Saturday and Sunday probably helped me,” said Smalley.

While McNealy briefly reached 6-under during his round after an eagle on the par-5 16th, Smalley recovered from three straight bogeys with a closing birdie to stay tied at the top.

“I played with Maverick a few times, and then I played with Matti a number of times. I think we were in the same year in college, so I was very familiar with him. So just being paired with both of those guys on the weekend allowed me to kind of settle in a little bit more. Maverick's a great guy, Matti was a great guy,” added Smalley.

Their results changed over the weekend as Smalley continued his run with a third-round 68 to take the solo lead into Sunday before finishing tied for second alongside Jon Rahm, while McNealy carded rounds of 71 and 72 to finish T-18.

What did you make of Alex Smalley’s runner-up finish at the 2026 PGA Championship?

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Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Koushik Biswas