An unforced error proves costly for Justin Thomas and his momentum stalls on the fifth. A pulled second shot into greenside rough from 165 yards for the American who can't get up and down in two to salvage a par.

Shot gone and he's now on the wrong side of the projected cut mark with only four holes remaining.

Bryson DeChambeau can't escape with a par on the second and he trudges off with a bogey - his first dropped shot of the day.

As we've seen at Quail Hollow so far, hitting the fairway really is a huge factor if you want to make a score, as not many have managed to escape once they're offline.

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Sublime effort from Jhonattan Vegas from the rought at the side of the ninth green after his mud ball flew off target.

He's chipped it 90 feet across the green and just lipped out when it looked like he'd canned an unlikely birdie. Still, a par keeps him two shots in front.

Never a great scenario.

Max Homa tees off down the par-five seventh but sees his ball head right and disappear down into ditch near the dammed creek that creates a wider waterway along the fairway and green.

Will he be getting his feet wet here?

After the nightmare end to his first nine, it's been a pretty decent response by Ludvig Aberg as he's just picked up a birdie on the third to add to his one at the first to get back to one over.

That's right on the projected cut line as it stands and that will be his first target. It'd be some effort to get back into any kind of contention after that awful five-over run through the Green Mile earlier.

Aaron Rai with a precision pitch on to the 13th green but a long 50-foot putt now awaits.

This is two-putt territory and one the Englishman tackles perfectly, rolling up to three feet and then tidying up.

This has been an excellent round from JJ Spaun who moves into a share of second with a booming birdie putt at the 14th.

He is five under and counting today - and hanging onto Jhonattan Vegas' coattails.

Bryson DeChambeau with a rare miss off the tee on the second, and after a few moments doing some sums in his head he plays a punch out of the trees, but it just catches a branch and that kills the momentum.

He's miles short now with work to do for par.

There are 46 different types of snake apparently that are common to North Carolina.

I'm better on sharks to be honest.

No. Not the words of Steve Backshall, but Steve Sutcliffe. Who knew we had our own Attenborough on the golf team.

That's the cry from Jhonattan Vegas as he sprays an iron shot wide of his target from the middle of the fairway on the ninth.

We've heard that call before....

The only slippery slidey snakes we like to see on a golf course are of the putting sort, with pros holing double breakers on the greens.

But here's one of the real life variety, making its way across a fairway. One of the caddies is out with a camera to take a quick snap.

And then a marshal appears and gives the snake a helping nudge with his foot. Not sure I'd be getting that close. And not sure he needs to be kicking it either.

Anyway, off it sidles into the long grass. It's a common watersnake suggests one of my colleagues. I think he's guessing though.

Bryson DeChambeau plays the first hole beautifully but all that's missing is the putt, as there's just a bit too much heat on the ball as it lips out and he has to settle for a par.

It's worse for Viktor Hovland who makes his second straight bogey to slip back to one under.

Max Homa is safely on the green at the 252-yard par-three sixth.

But this is a hole he'd just like to tick off with a par given he'll have to negotiate 34-foot across a slightly undulating surface for a birdie.

His first effort pulls up two feet or so short, a very decent attempt and a regulation three follows.

Justin Thomas may be one shot worse off than playing partner Collin Morikawa but he has the momentum.

A birdie-three on the third hole nudges Thomas further away from the cut mark. The top 70 and ties make the halfway cut after 36 holes and that birdie leaves him joint 61st.

Morikawa is sliding the other way at present and is back to level par after successive bogeys. He was at four under after three birdies when he walked off the 16th green. But a double bogey-par-bogey-bogey run has undone his early good work.

It's been a tough 12th hole for Aaron Rai after finding himself way at the back of the green.

Fine precision with his chip on a punishingly sloped putting surface but it still leaves 12 feet for par and it won't quite drop.

With that, the Englishman slips to four under.

Back-to-back pars for Cam Davis to settle himself down after consecutive bogeys. He almost holed a 25 footer for a birdie on 14 but it just came up short.

The Aussie is still well in touch though as he heads towards this punishing closing stretch.

A birdie for the leader, the first of the day, takes him back to seven under and back into a two-shot lead.

Jhonattan Vegas is in trouble off the tee, but plays a lovely low scooter under the trees to find the green, then gets down in two for a birdie four on the par five.

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Lengthy birdie putt for Max Homa on the fifth (his 14th) and it grazes the side of the cup on its way by.

He'll pocket a par.

Four holes left to try and eat some more into the lead of Jhonattan Vegas.

The 18th is no match for Bryson DeChambeau length-wise as he launches another missile off the tee 332 yards. But again his approach is good not great, and he then lacks power in his birdie putt to come up short from 20 feet.

Viktor Hovland is in bother off the tee with a big pull left, so he can only chip it back on the fairway then hit the green, but he can't make the par save and he drops a shot.

Aaron Rai continues to give himself chances and he's close at the 11th to tying the lead.

This putt slides by but five under remains just one back.