The third round of the 2026 PGA Championship gets underway on Saturday at Aronimink Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley co-lead at 4-under par after the second round and hold a one-stroke lead over the rest of the field. But, of course, the tournament remains wide open with two days remaining.
Here are my picks and PGA Championship Round 3 best bets.
PGA Championship Round 3 Best Bets
Patrick Cantlay Top-20 (-144 at DraftKings)
Patrick Cantlay enters the weekend already inside the top 20 at T16. At -144, he is worth backing to finish inside the top 20 for the fifth consecutive tournament.
One of Donald Ross’ preferred design elements at Aronimink was its emphasis on accuracy and shot-making rather than raw power. With that in mind, finding fairways is essential off the tee this week due to the penal rough and numerous bunkers lining the course.
That profile benefits Cantlay, who ranks in the 86th percentile on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: off the tee and in the 57th percentile in driving accuracy. He made one of his first PGA Tour appearances at this venue in 2011 and finished T20, and he has only improved since then.
Rory McIlroy Top-20 (-134 at DraftKings)
Another golfer worth targeting in this market is Rory McIlroy. This presents a buy-low opportunity on one of the pre-tournament favorites, who enters the weekend at T30.
Like Cantlay, McIlroy also fits this course well. Entering this week, he ranks in the 99th percentile on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: off the tee.
Approach play is critical, as players face large but complex greens. Hitting precise landing areas is essential given the speed of the putting surfaces.
The greens run around 13.5 on the Stimpmeter, placing a premium on putting. McIlroy’s putter has been strong, as he ranks in the 85th percentile on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: putting.
He has used that combination of driving and putting to finish inside the top 20 in each of his past two tournaments and is well positioned to do so again this week.
See updated PGA Championship odds here!
