Who is Alex Smalley? Meet the unassuming underdog contending at the PGA Championship

So, too, are his results on Tour. Smalley is enjoying his best season, having made 12 of 13 cuts, including five straight top 25s and a T-2 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last month. In doing so, he’s played his way into the last two signature events and should be safe for the rest of the big-money, no-cut touranments this season. Asked what has held his boss back from winning yet, Burns paused for a moment and guessed a lack of confidence. Smalley may need to heed the words of Rocky this weekend: “Until you start believing in yourself, you ain’t gonna have a life.” But with each recent success, Smalley's confidence is rising.

“I know I'm a good player that can compete out here on the PGA Tour, but having some finishes that have been able to back up that success the last maybe two or three weeks has allowed me to kind of realize like, oh, OK, I can't just compete out here, I can compete for a title,” Smalley said.

Added Burns: “If we’re not in the mix now it seems like we’re failing.”

Alex Smalley of the United States pulls a club from his bag on the 18th hole during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on May 15, 2026 in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

On Friday, Smalley said he couldn’t help notice the large leaderboards that flashed that he was the outright leader of the PGA after he birdied No. 18, his ninth hole of the day, but he proceeded to bogey the next three holes. Was he rattled? Smalley said no and he did end the bogey train with a bounce-back birdie. Burns thinks Smalley may have been rattled when his group was placed on the clock for slow play. Smalley dismissed the idea that it disturbed his rhythm.

“It's not my first time being timed, so I wasn't too caught up in the moment with it,” he said. “But it is what it is.”

For Smalley, he's right where he's always wanted to be. That is in the hunt at a major and potentially a tee time in the final group on the weekend. It's a chance to show the world that he can handle the bright lights and one of golf’s biggest stages. Can he pull off a Rocky-like upset and make his first Tour title a major in the City of Brotherly Love? To do so, he'll need to remember the words of Philly's fictional boxing hero, who said, “Every champion was a contender that refused to give up.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Alex Smalley taking on Rocky-like underdog role at PGA Championship