A birdie for Robert MacIntyre at the 8th gets him -1 for the round and -4 for the week. The Scot was eighth in this event last year and said: “It was a great week. The first time I feel like I’ve really been contending in a major going into a final round. Emotionally it worked. I stayed patient and got my reward.”

Ewan Murray from Quail Hollow: “Scheffler, once such a placid soul, was dictating what he may and may not be asked. About golf balls.”

Cameron Smith has three LIV Golf top 10 finishes in his last four starts worldwide. But he has missed the cut in his last three majors: 80-74 at last year’s Open, 71-78 last month in the Masters, and 78-71 this week.

Bob Cushion emails regarding Rory McIlroy’s attire today. Let’s just say that Bob is no fan of a brown shirt and he’s not cushioning the blow.

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy complete birdies at the par-five 15th. The American is now -5 for the tournament and tied fourth. The Northern Irishman is back in red on -1. The Green Mile (16, 17, 18) to come.

-8: Vegas (F)
-6: Pavon (F), Fitzpatrick (16)
-5: Homa (F), SW Kim (15) Scheffler (15)

Si Woo Kim has won the “fifth major” (The Players Championship) but he has a rotten record in the real majors. He’s played 28 of them and is yet to land a top 10 finish. It could change this week – the ace has vaulted him into the top five.

Hole-in-one! Si Woo Kim recorded the longest ace in Open history on the 238-yard par-three 17th at Royal Troon last summer and now he negotiates the 252-yard par-three 6th in one blow. He’s -6 for the day and -5 for the week. A 6th career ace for the Korean star.

Meanwhile, Alex Smalley makes a bogey at 18. He had to take a drop from the creek, but stay calm and limited the damage.

Is Dustin Johnson finished as a major championship contender?! He’s carded 78-76 this week for +12 and a missed cut. Add those numbers to his scores in his last four major starts (74-78-73-74-74-74) and it makes for ugly reading.

Bad news for Alex Smalley. His tee shot at 18 isn’t in the creek that runs down the fairway but only because the grass is long enough to grab hold of it. He’s unlikely to be bunting the ball forward, however, because he seems to be snug behind a small stone bridge. He’s fighting to stay in a share of fifth on -5 for the championship.

Eight years ago Justin Thomas won the PGA Championship when it visited Quail Hollow for a first time. He won’t be completing a repeat on Sunday, however. Rounds of 73-72 will see him miss the cut. It’s his sixth missed cut in the last 10 major championships.

Another significant Rory McIlroy moment – his birdie putt at 14. His bunker shot left him 10 feet and he makes it! Back to level-par. The par-five 15th to come. Scottie Scheffler makes an easier birdie shortly afterwards to return to -4.

Shane Lowry looks like he wants to bite through his putter shaft. In contention at the Masters until a tired finish on Saturday, in the final group last week in the Truist Championship watching his friend Sepp Straka win, that rotten lie in the middle of the fairway at 8 earlier today – his patience is being tested and he’s always struggled at Quail Hollow (no top 30 in six starts).

Rory McIlroy hits the tee at the par-four 14th. It’s 340 yards with water all the way down the left. He naturally favours the right side and finds the greenside bunker. Scottie Scheffler is up next, with driver rather than the 3-wood McIlroy used, and he joins his playing partner in the sand. Earlier today Max Homa left his drive just 1 feet 9 inches from the pin and drained the eagle putt.

By the way, take the leader out of this and the scoring is stacked. There are currently 23 players within three shots of second place (-6).

Rory McIlroy stops the rot. He gets up and down for par at the short 13th. He needs to make the most of the short par-four 14th and par-five 15th to come. Scottie Scheffler, however, has dropped a shot after his wonky blow from the tee and is now back to -3.

Scottie Scheffler is -2 for the day but has just hit a rotter at 13. He misses the green at the par-three 50 yards to the left. It’s an ugly swing and he completes it with one hand on the club, shouting “Fore!”. Rory McIlroy’s tee shot appears to find the heart of the green but then catches a slope and is swept off the putting surfaces. The testing period continues.

“So very difficult,” says Wayne Riley of Rory McIlroy’s pitch. He flips it over a bunker and it follows the contours to slide 11 feet behind the hole. But this is not a straightforward par putt – it is going to move significantly right-to-left and it will be pacey. It feels like a big moment. He’s on the brink of undoing so much good work. He misses and he was up very quickly from his stance. So very deflating. He closes his eyes in frustration. Back to +1 for the week.

Is it all about to unravel for Rory McIlroy?! After his limp bogey at 11, he doesn’t want to fritter away more shots in a hurry, but he pulls his drive into thick rough at the par-four 12th and needs to hit a low chaser onto the green below the branches of a tree. There was a touch of deceleration and he caught more grass than he hoped to. The ball slumps short of the green in more of that lush rough. TV’s Wayne Riley says that his position after two blows is “dead”.

There are many local connections this week at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ryan Gerard (currently tied second) hails from North Carolina (so does Ben Griffin, currently T13th), Alex Smalley (tied second) was brought up there, Matt Fitzpatrick (tied second) used to holiday in South Carolina, and Max Homa (sixth) is a course winner.

Scottie Scheffler makes a nasty par putt at 11 while Rory McIlroy misses one. The Northern Irishman has tested his short putting today and the law of averages finally caught up with him. He’s back to level-par for the week.

-8: Vegas (F)
-6: Pavon (F), Smalley (14), Fitzpatrick (12), Gerard (7)
-5: Homa (F)

Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick, the 2022 US Open champion, curls a beautiful birdie putt into the hole at 12. He’s now -3 for the round, -6 for the week, and in a four-way share of second. He has not made a top 20 anywhere since August last year but looks very steady so far this week, especially as he has an average course record (a best of T35th in three visits).

A 12th hole to forget for Phil Mickelson. The 2021 champion found the greenside bunker in two at the par-four. It took him three shots to escape the sand and he also missed a short putt to register a deflating quadruple bogey-8. He’d ticked four birdies in the five holes before that. It’s a typically Mickelson-like manner with which to play six holes in level-par.

There was a nice bounce back for Sergio Garcia today. The Spaniard laboured on Thursday with a 75 but signed for a 68 today. He’s +1 for the week. He hasn’t recorded a major championship top 10 since he slipped his arms inside a Green Jacket at Augusta National way back in 2017. It’s an astounding slump.

More progress for Rory McIlroy. His approach to the par-five 10th settles in the first cut, just off the putting surface. His lag putt settles at tap-in distance. It’s his ninth one-putt through 10 holes and he’s in red! -1 for the week (-4 for the round). He makes ground on the leader – and also Scottie Scheffler who misses a short birdie putt and mutters a rude word that TV hastily says sorry for.

What is on offer for Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in the next 90 minutes? The final three holes of the back nine – known as the Green Mile – ranked third, fifth and first most difficult holes for the week in the 2017 championship. That said, the front nine played tougher than the back that year. Combine those stats and it suggests that the scoring holes are the six after the turn. Then it’s hold on to whatever you’ve got down 16, 17 and 18.

At the start of his front nine Rory McIlroy trailed the leader Jhonattan Vegas by 13 shots. With a par at 9 he is now eight back of the lead. Vegas helped him narrow the gap with that final hole double bogey, but the Masters champion is also -3 for the round and level-par for the championship. He’s not really been at his best either. It’s been decent rather than vintage.

Sweden’s Alex Noren is a nice little story this week. He’s had to deal with a neck injury in 2025 which kept him out of action until last week when he made the cut in the Truist Championship. He’s currently -1 for today and -4 for the week which has him just inside the top 10. He was T12th in the PGA Championship last year and also T13th in the Open.

Simon Ronson has emailed: “How is Cornwall’s Harry Hall faring?” Hi Simon – Hall, who likes a flat cap, is currently -2 for the day and -4 for the tournament. Lovely stuff in just his second major championship start. Let’s also play catch-up with other thriving British players. Matt Fitzpatrick is -1 today and also -4 for the week. Veteran Richard Bland and Aaron Rai have finished on -3 for the championship, Robert MacIntyre is on that number through eight holes.

Another birdie opportunity for Rory McIlroy. His drive at the 353-yard par-four 8th finds greenside rough and the chip settles around five feet from the pin. Can he make it -3 for the day? Yes he can. He’s now level-par for the tournament. Not back in it, but this is what he’d have hoped for as he approaches the turn. Playing partner Scottie Scheffler is doing Scottie things – he’s quietly -2 for the day and -4 for the championship.

Talking of broken runs, Hideki Matsuyama has made the cut in his last 19 major championships. But television pictures just showed him thrashing himself as much as balls and clubs on the range. His 72-73 is +3 for the week and he’ll have a unusually free weekend.

Something peculiar might be about to happen this PGA Championship Friday. Xander Schauffele has finished top 20 in his last dozen major championship starts. That’s a staggering run of elite-level consistency. But it might be about to end. He’s currently not only outside the top 20 but beyond the cut mark. He’s +2 for the round and +3 for the week.

Alex Smalley is now solo second at -7 after a birdie at the 596 yard par-five 10th. He found the green in two enormous blows. He’s not a well-known name but he is an 11-time top 10 finisher on the PGA Tour so he’s far from being a mug. He was also T18th at Quail Hollow in his only previous course start in 2023 (and he’d been T101st after 18 holes).

Back at 7 Rory McIlroy finds the back of the par-five green in two magnificent shots but his chip races five feet past. He makes the birdie putt, though, and he’s now inside the cut mark, -2 for the day and +1 for the week.

The clubhouse leader Jhonattan Vegas on what the upcoming weekend opportunity means to him: “This is kind of what we put all those hours for – to give yourself chances like this. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do it throughout my career, but like I said, you never know. You’ve got to keep the pedal down, keep your head down, and keep working hard. You never know when things are going to turn your way. I’m enjoying the process.”

Appalling fortune for Shane Lowry at 8. His drive finds someone else’s pitch mark in the middle of the fairway. Half the ball is settled in damp turf. His best effort can only flop the ball into a front bunker. His escape leaves him 22 feet for par and it pulls up short. Disgruntled, he offers the course an opinion TV apologises for. He’s level for the day, +2 for the week and one shot outside the cut mark.

A solid pitch from Rory McIlroy and he makes par at 6. But he’s making life a little difficult for himself. True, he drained a 12 foot birdie putt at 2 and he’s bogey-free, but his par putts have tested the nerves from 4’2”, 9’8”, 3’7”, 5’6” and now 4’0”.

Fun and games for JT Poston at the par-three 17th. His tee shot found water but his third shot from the drop zone takes a few hops before disappearing down the hole. He’ll scratch a par on his card and quietly smile to himself. Meanwhile, Luke Donald, who was the only bogey-free golfer in round one, closes his first nine today with a double bogey-6 at the 18th. He slips back to -3 for the week.

Ryo Hisatsune drops from the share of second with a bogey at 17. He wasn’t there long. He’s replaced on that mark by Alex Smalley who is -2 for the day through eight and joins Matthieu Pavon on -6 for the championship. Back at the par-three sixth Rory McIlroy liked his tee shot – great line – but it hits the false front and rolls back to the fairway.

A third fairway hit for Rory McIlroy at the 5th. That 3-for-4 today after going 4-for-14 yesterday. “A different Rory McIlroy,” says Sky Sports on-course commentator Wayne Riley. The Aussie has a tendency to over-sell McIlroy pre-shot. He’ll either predict the successful completion of a high tariff effort or say something like “this is easy for McIlroy”. The approach just missed the green, Riley then purrs that the chip is “asking” to be holed … and it slips by. A nasty distance, actually – nearly six feet. But he just about holes it. It wobbled!

A slow start for Jon Rahm: one bogey, five pars. I miss him at his best. With his strong frame, beard, and glowering looks he used to resemble a bear with a sore head when mixing it with the world’s best in the majors. It was gloriously fiery and dramatic. But he hasn’t been genuinely in contention in the events that define a career since 2023 and, despite making a tricky par putt at 6, he departs the green looking more like a subdued bear trapped in captivity.

Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune completes a two-putt birdie at the par-five 15th. He won the Open de France on the DP World Tour in late September 2023 and was actually planning to go home to Japan the week after! He thought he was done with Europe so that result transformed his career and hopes. He ended the year qualifying for a PGA Tour card and now he is tied second in a major!

-8: Vegas (F)
-6: Pavon (F) Hisatsune (6)
-5: Homa (F), Donald (8), Gerard

Not the finest closing hole for the championship leader Jhonattan Vegas. His second shot at the par-four 18th finds sand, his recovery shot is less blast than waft, it dribbles off the front apron of the green, his chip slips a nasty three feet past the pin, and oh dear! Another ugly effort – he misses! Yikes. He finally finds the bottom of the cup after six strokes. He’s added a 70 to his opening round of 64 to set a 36-hole mark of -8. Back out on the course, Rory McIlroy drains an excellent par putt at the third to stay -1 for the day.

Luke Donald continues to give us all a blast from the past, sitting in a share for third on -5. The former World No. 1 rarely plays in the majors these days and last finished top 10 in 2013, but his long game has been solid, while his putter has been hot. Sky Sports noted earlier that he didn’t miss a putt inside 20 feet in round one. He’s not quite so sharp today – and misses a par breaker from 10 feet at the par-three 17th – but the European Ryder Cup captain must be having a terrific time. For one thing, he leads every member of his Rome 2023 team.

Rory McIlroy at the 2nd: Another fairway hit, this time he finds the green … and the 12 foot birdie putt drops! Cheers from the galleries who are surely desperate for good reasons (birdies – lots of them, ideally) to stick with the Masters champion all day.

What did Bryson DeChambeau make of his 68 today? “A weird day, much like yesterday,” he said. “I felt like I was playing good, just didn’t get anything out of it. A 64, 65 is out there. I almost shot it today and I definitely saw it out there, I just didn’t accomplish it.” He’s currently in the top 10 and on target to add to two great runs: he’s finished top four in three of the last four PGA championships, and he’s also been top six in four of the last five majors.

How did Rory McIlroy start his second round? The good news: he found the fairway from the tee. The bad news: he pulled his wedge approach into the greenside bunker. From there he has 4 feet for par and he makes it. Meanwhile, extraordinary good fortune for the leader Jhonattan Vegas. His approach at the par-three 17th misses the green and clatters into a rake behind a greenside bunker. It could have gone absolutely anywhere – the sand, the rough, the water – but instead it ricochets across the putting surface and leaves him a 33 foot birdie putt.

Frenchman Matthieu Pavon completed a 65 to sit second in the clubhouse. He hasn’t finished top 10 anywhere in the world since last year’s US Open (when he was fifth). He was also in a share of 12th at last year’s Masters so he likes the big occasion. His theory is to keep it simple. “It’s all about getting a good mindset and sticking to a clear game plan,” he said to the press just now.

-10: Vegas (16)
-6: Pavon (F)
-5: Homa (F), Smalley (4) Gerard

Rory McIlroy laughs with Scottie Scheffler on the 1st tee as he prepares to start his second round after that limp 74 yesterday. Can he turn it around? Well, we’ve had a sub-65 score already today so a low one is out there. But bear in mind that in major championships he’s shot 74 or worse in round one on 13 occasions and he’s responded with a sub-70 score in round two just three times. What about at Quail Hollow? In his 13 course visits, he’s five times failed to break 72 in round one and on three of those occasions he failed to do so again in round two. But when it happened most recently, in 2021, he went 72-66 jumping from T73 to fifth on his way to the third of his four course victories. So, it is possible …

Sky Sports commentator Rich Beem on the conditions today: “Fewer mud balls … benign conditions … with the heat and humidity the ball will fly long.”