CHARLOTTE, North Carolina :Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas led after the second round of the PGA Championship on Friday at Quail Hollow Club, where Scottie Scheffler added star power to the leaderboard and Max Homa fired the low round of the day to roar into contention.
Vegas, who began the day leading a major for the first time, carded a one-under 70 to reach eight under on the week, leaving him two shots clear of France’s Matthieu Pavon (65), England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (68) and South Korea’s Kim Si-woo (64).
“You never know when things are going to turn your way,” said Vegas, the world number 70. “I’m enjoying the process, and just got to keep going.”
The 40-year-old Vegas had a four-shot lead when he reached the par-four closing hole but ran into trouble after he sent his approach from the middle of the fairway into a greenside bunker.
What looked like a routine up-and-down turned into a double-bogey finish as Vegas mis-hit his third shot and watched it roll off the green from where he chipped it close and then missed a three-foot bogey putt.
After an opening round in which many top players struggled, world number one Scheffler found his groove late in the round and did his part to give the leaderboard a familiar look.
Scheffler followed his lone bogey of the day with back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15, and had a glorious chance to get within two after a stellar tee shot at the par-three 17th but his putt caught the edge of the cup.
“As the round went on, my swing continued to get better, and I was able to hit some key shots down the stretch to give myself some opportunities,” Scheffler said. “Looking forward to the weekend.”
MCILROY CATCHES BREAK
Homa, who won his maiden PGA Tour title at Quail Hollow in 2019, fired a sparkling 64 that left him in a two-way share of fifth place with Scheffler.
Homa wasted no time making his move as he reached the turn with a six-under-par 30 that marked the best nine-hole score of his majors career and included a near ace at the par-four 14th where he tapped in for eagle.
“That was one of the rare occasions in golf where as the further you walk up to the green, the closer it got,” Homa said. “Very thankful to only have a little 1 1/2-footer for eagle.”
Rory McIlroy, in his first major since his Masters triumph freed him from the burden of chasing the career Grand Slam, caught a break at the par-four 18th where he carded a closing bogey and made the one-over cut with no room to spare.
McIlroy’s tee shot sailed way left and bounced off the hospitality tent before settling in the thick rough of a bank beside the creek that winds along the fairway, leading to his second consecutive bogey.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele also made the cut on the number and is nine shots off the lead.
Kim’s round was bolstered by an ace at his 15th hole, the 252-yard, par-three sixth, that was the longest hole-in-one in major championship history. It led to him flinging his club and running off the tee box in celebration. He followed that with a birdie to match Homa for the low round of the day.
U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, a runner-up at last year’s PGA Championship, was lurking five shots off the lead after a three-under-par 68 that he capped with a disappointing bogey.
“I felt like I was playing good, just didn’t get anything out of it,” DeChambeau said. “But for the most part, I felt pretty good.”
Jordan Spieth, in his ninth attempt to complete the career Grand Slam, and world number seven Hideki Matsuyama were among the high-profile players to miss the cut.
Matsuyama had arrived at Quail Hollow with the longest active streak of consecutive major championship cuts made at 19 but bogeyed the final hole of his second round and missed the two-over-par cut by a one stroke.
