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On a leaderboard with a top 10 that, at one point on Saturday, featured the likes of Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, and Ludvig Aberg, there was a pair of players who flew under the radar and made big moves.
With just one bogey between the two of them, Nick Taylor and Matti Schmid each shot 5-under 65 in the third round of the PGA Championship to put themselves in contention at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
Taylor, who failed to make a single birdie in Friday's second round, was flawless on Moving Day, carding five birdies and 13 pars en route to his best round of the week while playing alongside his Canadian countryman, Corey Conners.
"Everything was very good today," Taylor said. "I drove it great on that front nine to give myself a few wedges and be able to go for the 9th hole par-5 in 2. The iron game was definitely kind of back to myself, in a sense, where it's the strength of my game, and today gave myself a lot of opportunities. Just hit a lot of greens, gave myself relatively routine pars. It was a steady day. It was a comfortable pairing with Corey. I felt we were both rolling it early. Unfortunately, he didn't kind of finish the round off, but it was just a comfortable day, and it was nice to have momentum."
More: PGA Championship hub: Stories, video and more
Taylor got the ball rolling with a birdie on the third hole, then added two more at Nos. 6 and 9 to make the turn in 3-under 32. From there, he patiently picked his spots, making par after par, until he stuffed a 7-iron to 11 feet on the 14th and rolled in the putt for a rare birdie at Aronimink's 200-yard par 3, which is playing as the fourth-toughest hole this week. Taylor capped off his stellar day with one more birdie at the 16th and pars on the last two holes.
"Bogey-free round around here is no easy task, so I'm proud of that today," Taylor said. "Stayed patient and made some great up-and-downs and really turned it into a great round."
Meanwhile, in the group in front of Taylor, Schmid put together his own masterclass of a round, and it was largely thanks to his elite performance on the greens. The 28-year-old German has had a hot putter all week. He ranks No. 6 in Strokes Gained: Putting for the tournament and on Saturday, he was No. 1. The rest of his game followed suit.
"Really good," Schmid said. "I drove it very good, the best off the tee this week and also the best on the greens for me this week. Iron play was okay, I would say. I've hit my irons nice the last couple of days as well. But, yeah, trending in the right direction."
Unlike Taylor, who is a proven winner with five career PGA Tour victories to his name, Schmid is in unfamiliar territory. In 104 starts on Tour, he has no wins and just five top-5s. Plus, this marks just his fifth start in a major. His best finish? A tie for 59th at the 2021 Open Championship. Now, he finds himself contending at the PGA alongside some of the biggest names in the sport — and he seems largely unfazed.
"I'm definitely not the center of attention, I would say, but I still have to focus on doing the things that I have to do well enough and just focus on myself, trying to be the best version of myself tomorrow again," Schmid said. Hopefully it leads to a really good round, and then we'll see."
Taylor, 38, has far more major championship experience than Schmid, but he, too, has never really contended on a stage like this. He missed the cut in 12 of his 19 major starts prior to this week and his best result came in the form of a T-23 finish at the U.S. Open last year. He'll enter Sunday's final round firmly in contention, but he's not concerning himself with the leaderboard. As of 5 p.m. ET Saturday, there were 21 players within three shots of the lead.
"I think it's so bunched, it's kind of pointless [to watch the leaderboard]," Taylor said. "I'll definitely be aware late tomorrow, if I'm in that position. But with so many things going on, it's just a distraction if you start looking at it. Luckily, I'll have a chance tomorrow, whatever that will be, and we'll kind of take it from there.
Nick Stavas is a digital producer for Golfweek.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Championship 2026: Nick Taylor, Matti Schmid in contention
Continue reading...
With just one bogey between the two of them, Nick Taylor and Matti Schmid each shot 5-under 65 in the third round of the PGA Championship to put themselves in contention at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
Taylor, who failed to make a single birdie in Friday's second round, was flawless on Moving Day, carding five birdies and 13 pars en route to his best round of the week while playing alongside his Canadian countryman, Corey Conners.
"Everything was very good today," Taylor said. "I drove it great on that front nine to give myself a few wedges and be able to go for the 9th hole par-5 in 2. The iron game was definitely kind of back to myself, in a sense, where it's the strength of my game, and today gave myself a lot of opportunities. Just hit a lot of greens, gave myself relatively routine pars. It was a steady day. It was a comfortable pairing with Corey. I felt we were both rolling it early. Unfortunately, he didn't kind of finish the round off, but it was just a comfortable day, and it was nice to have momentum."
More: PGA Championship hub: Stories, video and more
Taylor got the ball rolling with a birdie on the third hole, then added two more at Nos. 6 and 9 to make the turn in 3-under 32. From there, he patiently picked his spots, making par after par, until he stuffed a 7-iron to 11 feet on the 14th and rolled in the putt for a rare birdie at Aronimink's 200-yard par 3, which is playing as the fourth-toughest hole this week. Taylor capped off his stellar day with one more birdie at the 16th and pars on the last two holes.
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"Bogey-free round around here is no easy task, so I'm proud of that today," Taylor said. "Stayed patient and made some great up-and-downs and really turned it into a great round."
Meanwhile, in the group in front of Taylor, Schmid put together his own masterclass of a round, and it was largely thanks to his elite performance on the greens. The 28-year-old German has had a hot putter all week. He ranks No. 6 in Strokes Gained: Putting for the tournament and on Saturday, he was No. 1. The rest of his game followed suit.
"Really good," Schmid said. "I drove it very good, the best off the tee this week and also the best on the greens for me this week. Iron play was okay, I would say. I've hit my irons nice the last couple of days as well. But, yeah, trending in the right direction."
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Unlike Taylor, who is a proven winner with five career PGA Tour victories to his name, Schmid is in unfamiliar territory. In 104 starts on Tour, he has no wins and just five top-5s. Plus, this marks just his fifth start in a major. His best finish? A tie for 59th at the 2021 Open Championship. Now, he finds himself contending at the PGA alongside some of the biggest names in the sport — and he seems largely unfazed.
"I'm definitely not the center of attention, I would say, but I still have to focus on doing the things that I have to do well enough and just focus on myself, trying to be the best version of myself tomorrow again," Schmid said. Hopefully it leads to a really good round, and then we'll see."
Taylor, 38, has far more major championship experience than Schmid, but he, too, has never really contended on a stage like this. He missed the cut in 12 of his 19 major starts prior to this week and his best result came in the form of a T-23 finish at the U.S. Open last year. He'll enter Sunday's final round firmly in contention, but he's not concerning himself with the leaderboard. As of 5 p.m. ET Saturday, there were 21 players within three shots of the lead.
"I think it's so bunched, it's kind of pointless [to watch the leaderboard]," Taylor said. "I'll definitely be aware late tomorrow, if I'm in that position. But with so many things going on, it's just a distraction if you start looking at it. Luckily, I'll have a chance tomorrow, whatever that will be, and we'll kind of take it from there.
Nick Stavas is a digital producer for Golfweek.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Championship 2026: Nick Taylor, Matti Schmid in contention
Continue reading...
