The last six of golf’s Grand Slam events have been won by first timers.

Heading into the weekend at the 93rd PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club, there’s a good chance it’s going to be seven.

Only three of the top 25 players heading into Saturday’s third round have won majors with the closest to the lead being veteran Jim Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open champion, who’s tied for third.

Keegan Bradley, a first time winner on the Tour this year, had 6-under-par 66, the day’s best round, to tie for the lead with Jason Dufner (65) at 5-under-par 135.

Furyk, boosted by success with a belly putter, had a 65 of his own to get to 4-under, tieing for third with D.A. Points (67), John Senden (68), Brandt Jobe (68) and veteran Scott Verplank (69).

First-round leader Steve Stricker backed up with a 74 Friday. The other major winners near the top are Davis Love III (’97 PGA) and Trevor Immelman (’08 Masters), who each had a 71 Friday and are tied for 14th.

Though he won this year at the Byron Nelson, the 25-year-old Bradley is still pretty much an unknown commodity with the gallery.

“The worst one is when you sign an autograph and the kid looks at you and asks what your name is. That’s the worst one. I’ve gotten that a bunch of times this week,” said Bradley, who said he can understand his lack of profile.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a surprise that I was up here. But I work very hard and this is what I’ve been looking forward to doing my whole life, so it’s as comfortable as it can be.”

Bradley is nephew of former LPGA great Pat Bradley. He’s not exactly the cookie-cutter PGA Tour pro. He’s from Woodstock, VT, and played at that noted golf power, St. John’s University in Queen’s (he got to play the legendary Black Course at Bethpage every Monday).

He had a shot at shooting the lowest round in major golf history 62 Friday when he got it to 6-under through 14, but parred in from there.

No that many people took note. Bradley played the back nine first and most of the big names were on the other side.

“There’s nobody out there because I’m on the wrong side. I mean, it felt like a Hooters Tour event,” said Bradley. “It was great. It was a relaxing atmosphere. It didn’t feel like a major, to be honest with you.”

It will Saturday.

Many of the stars and pre-tournament favourites missed the cut which fell at 4-over, including Tiger Woods, defending champ Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Webb Simpson.

World number one Luke Donald is 1-over and tied for 26th along with Phil Mickelson, number two Lee Westwood is tied for 14th after a 68 (he could be worth keeping an eye on) and U.S. Open champ Rory McIlroy, playing with that injured wrist, is tied for 53rd with Rickie Fowler.

Dufner said the leaderboard speaks to the depth of talent on Tour.

“That’s one thing I’ve learned. This is my sixth year out there and there’s tons and tons of guys that can play golf out here. The networks and the media maybe focus on the bigger names for a reason. That’s who people want to see,” said Dufner, who’s still looking for his first win.

“There always seem to be a couple of guys in majors who surprise people.”