Aaron Rai escapes the 15th with a par, thanks largely to some sorcery with his wedge and a chip and run up the bank to a foot.

Well played.

That's a pearl from American Joe Highsmith on the par-five 15th as he fires his approach inside eight feet.

Tucked away for eagle and suddenly he's vaulted up the leaderboard.

Currently on a round of six under par today and three holes left to improve on that.

Another playing the 14th hole in sensible fashion is Richard Bland.

Some of you may recall that in May 2021 he won the British Masters to become the oldest first-time winner on the European Tour at the age of 48.

It was his 478th start, the second most by a player earning a first win.

Bland, now 52, plies his trade on the LIV Golf circuit. Anyway, back to Quail - he laid up off the tee on the short par-four hole and then pinged a wedge into kick-in range to nudge a little further up the leaderboard.

Max Homa rolls in his par putt on the ninth. The American is right in the mix and signs for a seven-under 64.

That is his lowest round in 23 major championship starts.

His previous-best was a first-round 67 at the 2024 Masters on the way to his best finish in a major, a tie for third.

Since then he has played 18 rounds in majors and averaged 71.56 in those rounds.

With Luke Donald about to head out, it's time to take a look at who else is on the slate for this evening.

• 18:03 Rickie Fowler (US), Brooks Koepka (US), Shane Lowry (Ire)
• 18:14 Jason Day (Aus), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)
• 18:25 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Jon Rahm (Spa)
• 18:47 Rory McIlroy (NI), Xander Schauffele (US), Scottie Scheffler (US)
• 19:09 Keegan Bradley (US)
• 19:26 Ryan Gerard (US)

Why would you go anywhere else?

The 2017 US PGA champion at Quail Hollow continues to go backwards and with holes running out, Justin Thomas might well be packing his case tonight.

A 252-yard par-three is perhaps not the hole you want to face when you're chasing birdies and JT tugs his tee shot into rough and that leads to another dropped shot.

The par-five seventh doesn't offer any respite. He's in a bunker in two, 33 yards from the green, but takes four from there for a third successive bogey.

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Luke Donald ripped up the formbook in round one, shooting a four-under 67, his lowest in a major since 2004.

Indeed, the 47-year-old was the only player not to record a bogey in the first round.

Not bad for a player ranked 871st in the world.

Afterwards he joked: "I've obviously been trending with all the missed cuts coming into this week" and recognised the only reason he was invited was because of his status as Team Europe's Ryder Cup captain.

So far he's been showing his team how it is done - can he maintain it on day two?

Aaron Rai can't put the brakes on his iron shot into the 15th as it skips through the green into the gnarly stuff.

This really is a horrible pitch and he catches the bump up going back towards the green and will be playing his fourth from tight lie.

A regulation par on 11 for Jhonattan Vegas to keep his three-shot lead, ans he's looking in total control now, as he shows off the 12th tee.

He creams a driver 316 yards down there onto the 12th fairway, in position A++ as you couldn't really walk out there and place it any better.

Two birdies in a row for Bryson DeChambeau as he knocks his tee shot to 13 feet on the fourth to improve to three under.

He'll be looking to make a move now in his closing five holes to ensure he's among the contenders heading into the weekend.

Viktor Hovland is heading in the opposite direction though with another bogey dropping him to level par.

Now if Max Homa manages an eagle on the ninth he will sign for a nine-under 62 today.

That would equal a record in a major shared by the likes of Branden Grace, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele (who has done it twice) and Shane Lowry.

So of course his approach flies nowhere near the pin and a par from 40-odd feet would be more than fine.

Matthieu Pavon's fine round continues on the driveable par-four 14th.

The Frenchman elects to nudge a fairway finder off the tee and leaves himself a wedge into the green. The tactic works as his ball skips in to a couple of feet and that's a straightforward birdie.

A sixth birdie. And no bogeys.

Jhonattan Vegas leads by three! He takes advantage of the par-five 10th thanks to a chip from 87 feet ending just four feet from the hole so he can knock that in to get to eight under.

And there aren't many players making big moves after him, barring Max Homa, either...

Max Homa has another birdie shout on the eighth after clipping in to around seven feet. It's a bit of dribbler though, hit without any real conviction and it's just a par.

Still this is some round from the American.

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An instant response from Bryson DeChambeau after drilling another humdinger of a drive 357 yards off the tee, then sticking his approach to 11 feet and rolling it in for a three.

Aaron Rai drains a 14-foot right-to-left putt right into the middle of the cup on the 14th to collect his fifth birdie of the day.

He is currently in a five-way tie for second, two shots adrift of the leader Jhonattan Vegas.

Apparently not (see 16:45 post).

Not only does Max Homa get out of a tight spot he bravely goes straight over the water down the right, just landing a few yards beyond it and his ball skips right onto the dance floor.

While a long eagle putt misses by a mere 11 inches, it's a tap-in birdie. Sensational.

A birdie for Jordan Spieth on the fourth courtesy of a 16 footer and that drags him back to two over and he'll now facny making the cut at Quail Hollow.

The cut is currently projected to be one over par.

After shipping four shots in three holes around his turn, Tyrrell Hatton has steadied the ship with four successive pars.

Nothing silly on the final three holes and the Englishman will have plenty of time to sort out any issues before round three gets under way.

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We've just caught sight of the bottom of the leaderboard, currently propped up by Michael Block at +15, remember him from two years ago, and the one-time peerless Dustin Johnson at +13.

DJ's past six major results are four missed cuts and ties for 43rd and 31st.

Safe to say he'll be boarding an early plane home once again from this tournament.