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Jon Rahm had begun to doubt himself upon hearing the pre-tournament predictions ahead of the PGA Championship, yet the demanding examination posed by Aronimink Golf Club has vindicated his initial assessment.

Rahm has fought his way into contention near Philadelphia, sitting in a five-way tie for second place at four under par, two shots behind leader Alex Smalley as Sunday's final round approaches.

Numerous pre-tournament forecasts had suggested players would overpower this traditional Donald Ross layout, with the winning score expected to hover around 20-under par. How mistaken they proved to be; the PGA of America has crafted a compelling finale through its punishing pin placements, leaving several leading contenders, including Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, thoroughly frustrated.

Thirty players are within five shots of the lead, with nobody capable of pulling clear of the chasing pack at any point throughout the week.

For his own peace of mind, Rahm is grateful that Aronimink has proved every bit as challenging as he had anticipated. Speaking after a three-under-par 67, he said: "I would like to know who came up with that, by the way.

"Honestly, when I heard people talking about 20 under par, it made me question my ability to read a golf course. I was looking at the greens and where they could put pin locations and possible wind, (and) I actually got worried. I'm like if somebody shoots 20 under, the amount of records they're going to break this week would be unheard of.

"The fairways up here by the numbers are probably wide, but they don't play as wide as they really are. Holes like 7, 10, 15, with how much slope you have to the fairway, you have to hit a very accurate golf shot to be in it. Like that, you can add too 2, 4 - maybe not on 6 - but 10, 12, 15, 16, right?

"With the slope of the fairway and the wind going with the slope of the fairway, it plays a lot more difficult than I think a lot of people would have foreseen at first with how much they're rolling out."

While McIlroy and Scheffler have made no secret of their reservations regarding the challenge laid out by the PGA of America, Rahm has positively embraced the test.

"Credit to the PGA for the setup," he said. "They found some incredibly hard pin locations out there. Usually when we're practicing, we put our disks out, and there's definitely quite a few that I would have told Adam [Hayes, Rahm's caddie], 'Man, there's no way they're going to put a pin there,' and they did. So we found a way to keep it all close together.

"As hard as it is to play, the challenge can also be kind of fun if you do well. That's probably the reason why the leaderboard is so bunched up and it's going to be such a good Sunday tomorrow. So in that sense, showmanship-wise, they've done a great job."