Image source, Getty Images

Has a golf major ever been so finely poised?

Frankly that could have been a 22-man split picture, with that number of players between six and two under par

Alex Smalley is the man to catch, having opened up a two-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard.

Be sure to read Matthew Gault's assessment of the day's play before you leave us...

We will back on Sunday at 18:00 BST for the conclusion to this year's PGA Championship.

If you haven't had your golf fix yet, between now and then you can check out these stories:

• The European man with more golf majors than McIlroy
• Donald welcomes Rahm Ryder Cup availability
• From 10% survival odds to taking on world's best at G4D Open
• Job of LIV chiefs to fix breakaway circuit - Rahm

Ludvig Aberg on the leaderboard: "I mean, my PGA Tour career isn't necessarily very long at this point, but I've never seen anything like it.

"It's very tight. I think there's a lot of good players within striking distance going into tomorrow, 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."

Image source, Getty Images

And on what Sunday will bring: "There's no denying that these tournaments are the big ones. These are the ones that we all want to win.

"I think going into tomorrow, it's just a really good opportunity for me. Obviously with a lot of guys within just a few shots, a lot of things can happen.

"Whoever's going to win tomorrow needs to hit golf shots all the way in. That's just the way it's going to be. I'm looking forward to that challenge."

Alex Smalley speaking to Sky Sports, after taking a two-shot lead into the final round of the US PGA Championship: "Obviously it wasn't the start I had foreseen for myself today. I had trouble on one, two and three yesterday and had trouble again today.

"It was a difficult start for sure but I made a nice par on six to kind of settle myself and hit a good wedge shot on seven. With a start like that it is easy for things to go south but I just tried to hang in there.

"It will be difficult to ignore a lot of things. I feel like I have done a pretty good job in the first three days of sticking to my business and trying to treat it like any other golftournament. My dad flew up this morning, so it is nice to have him with me.

"I have been in a final group before but not on a stage like this. It is a wide open golf tournament."

Alex Smalley will take a two-shot lead into Sunday's final with a group of five players - Matti Schmid, Nick Taylor, Jon Rahm, Aaron Rai and Ludvig Åberg - leading the pursuit of the American.

It marks the first 54-hole lead of Smalley's career in his 141st start on the PGA Tour.

I wonder how the 29-year-old will sleep tonight?

Image source, Getty Images

Scottie Scheffler on the current bunched leaderboard heading into the final round: "I've never seen anything like this.

"When we were out there, I think it's just the nature of a lot of different things, but yeah, I've never seen a leaderboard like this, this bunched up.

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

"Going into tomorrow, just 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."

Alex Smalley becomes the 10th player since 1995 to hold the outright 54-hole lead of a major championship despite not having a single PGA Tour win to his name.

Only one of the previous nine held on to win and that was South Aftrica's Louis Oosthuizen, who triumphed at the Open Championship in 2010.

The last player in that boat to win a US PGA Championship title was John Daly back in 1991.

In Smalley, you could probably not find a bigger contrast to 'Wild Thing'.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottie Scheffler is only five shots off current leader Alex Smalley after a struggling day where he felt he played pretty well up until the green.

The stats tell the story - as the defending champion is 12th off the tee and 13th in a approach play at Aronimink, but is 54th around the greens and 66th in the putting stats so far.

"I felt like I did a good job today kind of hanging in there," said Scheffler. "Hit some good shots, hit a lot of good putts that are kind of right around the edge.

"It's kind of like a little bit of a dice roll at times when you have so much slope and so much wind. If I continue to do what I'm doing and hole a few more putts, then I think I'll be in a good spot when tomorrow ends.

For the record, Scheffler missed six putts from inside 10 feet today, with five of those coming from inside eight feet as well.

Oliver Wilson
Former Ryder Cup player on BBC Sounds

Fantastic. He would have been a little bit shaken by that bogey on 17 but that is a great way to sign off. A two-shot lead going for your first win is a great place to be.

Maverick McNealy's strategy on this hole will come under a bit of scrutiny later on.

The American gets nowhere near the pin with his third and it's going to be a scrappy bogey to conclude his round.

Alex Smalley is weighing up a birdie putt for a two-shot lead overnight. In it drops. What a way to finish. He's played the back nine in 31 and gives a little fist pump as cheers ring out around the 18th green.

Image source, Getty Images

Jon Rahm on if he's playing some of the best golf of his career: "Sometimes it's a tricky balance between how I feel like I'm hitting the ball and how well you can score, right? I think early in 2023 I scored really, really well, and it perhaps felt a little bit worse than I would have liked.

"I would say so far this week it's felt really, really good, and so far this year, I would say at times perhaps better than in '23. But the feeling of how you're playing and actually getting it done are two different things. So feeling-wise it's really up there.

"The only year I would say that has felt better than so far this year would be 2021. I had only one win that year, being the US Open obviously, but I think as a whole, you take the whole year into account. The best my swing has felt in my game was '21, and I feel pretty good about that as well."

That is some shot. Alex Smalley whips an iron into the green to give himself a good look at a birdie.

Here comes Maverick McNealy. This is awkward to put it mildly and he can only succeed in finding the bunker up towards the right of the green, which is actually not a bad result.

Iain Carter
BBC golf correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

We have 43 players within five shots of the lead. Mayhem.

Hideki Matsuyama and Chris Gotterup both make par fours on the last to both sign for rounds of 71, that's one over par, to end the round on two under.

As we know it's a packed leaderboard so anything could happen tomorrow, and sitting just three shots off the lead both of these will feel the US PGA Championship is there for the taking.

Oh that is horrible. Maverick McNealy has his driver out, which brings the bunkers down the right of the 18th fairway into play.

And he almost finds them, although the outcome is much worse with his ball stopping on the longer grass that slopes down into a sand trap.

Alex Smalley clubs down and does not make the same mistake, finding the middle of the fairway.

Iain Carter
BBC golf correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

And the glass ceiling is reached again. A player gets to six under par and the golfing gods say 'no, no, no, no, no!'

Oliver Wilson
Former Ryder Cup player on BBC Sounds

That's going to hurt. An unforced error there and a nervy bunker shot.

Alex Smalley misses right. It is his first bogey since the eighth hole and brings the six players in a tie for second right back into his rear-view mirror.

Maverick McNealy, who is one of them knocks in an assured putt from five feet to save his par.

Alex Smalley goes straight at the 17th pin. Is that advisable? We'll soon find out as his ball plummets into the sand that guards the green.

He could quite easily send his second past the flag and does albeit the slope helps draw it in 10 feet. A nasty downhill putt from left to right awaits for par.

Aldrich Potgieter teases the crowd at the 18th with a putt from around eight feet which comes up just a fraction short.

The South African taps in from a foot to finish level par.

After rounds of 67 and 70 the 21-year-old, who only turned professional in 2023, will probably be slightly disappointed with his showing today.

It's a bad time for a bogey but both Chris Gotterup and Hideki Matsuyama drop shots on the 17th - the American fluffs a chip from the side of the green to get his, despite almost holing his second attempt.

Matsuyama should still be on a high from his eagle on the last, but he's brought crashing back down to Earth as he misses from four feet for his par.