Wolverhampton's finest, Aaron Rai, held the lead early in the first round of the Masters last month before finishing in a tie for 27th place on his debut at Augusta.

He's started superbly at Quail Hollow, with three birdies in his first six holes.

Rai is one of the players who started on the 10th, so he's just entered the "Green Mile" stretch of 16, 17 and 18.

Great par save by Justin Thomas, who takes a drop from the water and wedges it from 97 yards to 14 feet before rolling in the putt for a five - some effort that one!

Collin Morikawa plays the hole a lot better as he finds the back of the green in two, hits a long eagle putt and knocks in the birdie.

The TV coverage shows a group of people working furiously to smooth out the sand in one of the greenside bunkers at Quail Hollow.

Then we see the reason why - a huge turtle, which had left its footprints all through it!

We don't get those down the local pitch and putt near where I live...

Justin Rose has been having an Indian summer at the majors with runners-up finishes at the past two - the 2024 Open Championship and four weeks ago at the Masters.

Hopes of repeating the feat here have got off to a tricky start.

The Englishman is two over through three holes.

Ask Me Anything

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BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team have been asking for your questions...

The latest is one on the sport's laws around putting.

Alan in Bristol asked: In golf, is it legal to use the back of my putter to make a stroke?

Yes, it is legal to use the back of a putter to make a stroke.

As far as the laws of golf are concerned, there is nothing preventing the use of any part of the clubhead.

In the R&A's Rule 10.1a Fairly Striking the Ball and Clarification 10.1a/1, “a player may play a stroke with any part of the clubhead, provided the ball is not pushed, scraped or scooped.”

Oh dear. Bryson DeChambeau is playing his third from just off the right off the fifth green but he stubs that one and it stops well short of the pin.

A big par putt coming up from 13 feet...which he sinks.

We talked about Justin Thomas sinking fast before, and now he's gone and found the water on the seventh!

It's a par five so he's got a shot to play with, but if he's not careful his chances could be sunk already.

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It's been a solid, unspectacular start for Jordan Spieth in his bid to complete the Grand Slam.

The American bogeyed the first and has just registered his fifth straight par - his birdie putt on the sixth from about 25 feet is tickled towards the hole but pulls up a little short.

Very much a case of as you were as this trio walk off the par-three fourth, albeit Bryson DeChambeau is just six inches off chipping in for birdie.

Gavin Andrews
BBC Sport NI at Quail Hollow

Tough morning for Rory on the way to a three-over-par 74.

He skipped media post round and by all accounts is heading to the practice range - with temperatures approaching 30 degrees!

He won the 2017 PGA Championship here at Quail Hollow, but Justin Thomas won't be winning it this year unless he can stop taking on water like this.

A bogey at the long par-three sixth hole means he's four over now in what is official a horror start for the two-time Wanamaker Trophy winner.

Dustin Johnson also bogeys six to drop back to level par, while Collin Morikawa has also hit reverse recently with successive bogeys on four and five.

Ludvig Aberg bounces straight back after that bogey at the fourth with a birdie on the par-four fifth - he's back to level par.

And Patrick Reed is one shot better off, his second consecutive birdie taking him into red numbers for the first time today.

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Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele both made double bogeys on the 16th after getting mud balls despite hitting the middle of the fairway.

The world number one was not happy with the PGA of America's decision not to have preferred lies:

"It's one of those deals where it's frustrating to hit the ball in the middle of the fairway and get mud on it and have no idea where it's going to go.

"I understand it's part of the game, but there's nothing more frustrating for a player. You spend your whole life trying to learn how to control a golf ball, and due to a rules decision all of a sudden you have absolutely no control over where that golf ball goes.

"But I don't make the rules. I just have to deal with the consequences of those rules. I did a good job of battling back today and not letting a bad break like that, which cost me a couple shots, get to me. Did a good job battling after that and posting a decent score."

It has been some start by JJ Spaun. The 34-year-old American has almost missed as many cuts in the majors (three) as when he's made the weekend (four) but he is going along very nicely.

A birdie on the 10th was followed by two pars but he's now gone birdie, birdie, birdie.

And that's what happens if you don't keep your ball on the fairway.

Bryson DeChambeau goes right off the tee and can't control a looping second shot into the third that flies the green and lands among the fans at the back.

His chip back on motors on and on and when presented with a 51-foot putt for par, it's just asking way too much.

Meanwhile, a pinpoint second from Viktor Hovland nestles five feet from the pin and the Norwegian rolls in for birdie. Well played.

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Justin Rose has finished second in the last two majors, and each time he's not done too much wrong on the final day.

He shot 67 on Sunday at Royal Troon, a round that only one player could better, but sadly for him that was Xander Schauffele who shot 65 to win by two.

Rose followed that up with a brilliant Sunday run at Augusta before losing his second Masters play-off to Rory McIlroy - who made an incredible birdie to take the Green Jacket.

So, then, can Rose get one over the line here?

Well, he's got a sneaky good US PGA Championship record with recent finishes of 6-9-13-8-9 - in fact he's the only player to finish in the top 15 in each of the past five years in this event.

Third time lucky for Rose?

A bad start for Justin Thomas got worse at the third hole as he followed a double bogey with a bogey to drop to three over already.

A par at four stopped the rot but it's a worrying start for the 2017 PGA champion who won the title here at Quail Hollow.

Dustin Johnson surprisingly lead the way in this group after he birdied the par-three fourth.

Ryan Gerard can't sink that par putt so ships a second shot in as many holes.

Still he's had quite a day and made four consecutive birdies and a memorable eagle on a back-nine charge that has left him still one shot clear at the top of the leaderboard.

It's been boom or bust for Sweden's Ludvig Aberg in his five major appearances to date - three finishes inside the top 12 and two missed cuts.

His tee shot on the par-three fourth sails a long way over the green and he can't get up and down to save par.

After starting with three straight pars, it means Aberg joins playing partner Jordan Spieth on one over.

Patrick Reed's birdie putt from about 15 feet drops, though, and he's back to level par.

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US captain Keegan Bradley and Europe captain Luke Donald are both now sitting pretty under par after their opening rounds.

A perfect example for all the players hoping to play under them at the Ryder Cup in September.

Only five sitting Ryder Cup captains had previously opened with a round in the 60s at the US PGA Championship during a Ryder Cup year (all of whom happened to be American).

• 1961 - Jerry Barber, 69 (-1) at Olympia Fields
• 1985 - Lee Trevino, 66 (-5) at Cherry Hills
• 1993 - Tom Watson, 69 (-2) at Inverness Club
• 1997 - Tom Kite, 68 (-2) at Winged Foot
• 2018 - Jim Furyk, 69 (-1) at Bellerive

Only on one occasion in US PGA Championship history did both sitting Ryder Cup captains make the cut during a Ryder Cup year.

That wasn't too long ago in 2021 at Kiawah Island, both Padraig Harrington (finished tied for fourth) and Steve Stricker (tied for 44th) made it to the weekend.