CHARLOTTE -- Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela maintained the lead in the PGA Championship by shooting a 1-under-par 70 in Friday's second round at Quail Hollow Club. Despite a sour ending, Vegas built on the strong finishing stretch from a day earlier that made him the first-round leader. He'll go to the weekend at 8-under 134, carrying a two-shot lead on France's Matthieu Pavon (65 on Friday), England's Matt Fitzpatrick (68) and South Korea's Si Woo Kim (64), who was buoyed by a hole-in-one on the sixth hole. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler got going and his 68 lifted him to 5 under, joining Max Homa (64) three shots behind Vegas. Much of the early evening was focused on the status of defending champion Xander Schauffele and Masters champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland. Schauffele's 71 and McIlroy's 69 left them both at 1 over, right at the projected cut line. Vegas played the front nine in even par for the second round, with his lone birdie coming on No. 7. He notched birdies on three of the first five holes on the back nine. The round included good fortune after Vegas' tee shot on the par-3 17th hole landed in front of the green, but the ball hit a rake alongside a bunker and rolled onto the green. He finished the hole with a par. Vegas wasn't as lucky at 18, when his approach shot found a greenside bunker. His blast from the sand then rolled off the green. He lipped out a putt from less than 3 1/2 feet away, resulting in a double-bogey 6. Pavon has enjoyed his time at major tournaments in North Carolina after sitting near the top of the leaderboard throughout last year's U.S. Open at Pinehurst, where he finished fifth. Kim's ace from 252 yards out with a 5-wood ranks as the longest hole-in-one in major championship history. Early in the second round, Homa moved in contention with his best round in a major by three strokes. He began the round with a 30 on back nine, including consecutive 2s on Nos. 13 (birdie) and 14 (eagle). England's Aaron Rai also moved to 5 under by early afternoon, but a double-bogey 6 at No. 16 left him at 72 for the day and 3 under for the tournament. Weekend contenders include Michael Thorbjornsen, whose 70 put him at 4 under. He had bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 that halted his momentum. South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout (68) is also among the 10 golfers at 4 under. Ryan Gerard, who was two shots behind Vegas when the day began, started his second round around the time Vegas sank his last putt. He shot 72 as one of the final golfers on the course Friday and his final-hole bogey left him at 4 under. Cameron Davis, an Australian who was tied for second with Gerard after the first round, dropped off the leaderboard with a 74 as he fell to 2 under. The course continued to dry out after heavy rains earlier in the week. Friday was muggy, particularly for those with tee times in the afternoon. --Field Level Media
