Xander Schauffele is on the green at the par-five 15th in two. This hole is 580 yards uphill and he's putting for an eagle after going driver and six iron.

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler don't have the greatest of lies and both lay up.

Alex Smalley does indeed take a penalty drop and then thrashes his third out of the thick stuff into the front apron of the green.

We've seen plenty take at least two more from there.

One step forward and all that. Rory McIlroy looks to have regained his mojo but then pulls his tee shot left on 15 and clatters into the trees.

It looks like he'll be okay in the left rough with 240 yards or so to the green.

Alex Smalley wins the award for most interesting ball placement of the day after tugging his drive down the 18th towards the stream.

He clears it but the ball ends up inches from the water and almost under a low stone bridge. I'm not sure he'll have any shot, in any direction, from there.

A rare sight of Bob MacIntyre on the par-three sixth. He's been wayward off the tee and hacking out of thick cabbage. That gets his ball on the green and tracking nicely towards the hole. And he holes the four-footer. Cracking par save.

Image source, Getty Images

After a couple of years struggling to find his best form, it really is good to see Matt Fitzpatrick back towards the top end of a major leaderboard.

A long birdie putt drifts alongside the 15th hole but does not drop, so he'll stay two off the lead at six under.

Just the 'Green Mile' left to navigate today and, if he does, he'll be in one of the final groups on Saturday.

Alex Smalley tries to draw his ball in towards the pin on the short 17th. He sets it out to the right but that's not coming back.

The ball catches the right edge of the green and tumbles into a little dell. He chooses to putt up the slope but does not give that anywhere near enough of a biff.

And the parr putt from 15 feet is missing too. Clumsy bogey for the American.

Xander Schauffele is putting first after being rather heavy handed coming out of the sand. His putt from 18 feet almost grazes the right of the hole. Just a par for the American.

Rory McIlroy's bunker shot was also fairly average by his standards but he makes up for it with his putter, making birdie from 10 feet.

Scottie Scheffler taps in for his three after splashing out to 18 inches.

Those dropped shots by Shane Lowry and Rickie Fowler have indeed brought the cut line to two over par, rather than one.

Gives Rory McIlroy some more breathing space - and indeed opens the door for Xander Schauffele to maintain his remarkable record of making 63 straight cuts.

Image source, Getty Images

Tommy Fleetwood's round may have been understated but his shirt is anything but.

Thumbs please for your verdict on the zebra vibes.

Shane Lowry is in danger of missing the cut. He's got a lengthy par putt on the 16th and his ball lips out. That's a bogey.

The cut is fluctuating between one and two over. This is going down to the wire.

Rickie Fowler misses a short one on the same hole to post a double and that drops him to three over to further complicate matters.

For the Tommy Fleetwood fans out there, the Birkdale golfer has found a birdie down the back nine to move to two under par.

it's been one of those typically understated rounds for Fleetwood so far today - one bogey, two birdies.

Don't be surprised if he turns that into a top-10 finish come Sunday.

Rory McIlroy misses the 50-yard-long green, perched over a lake but it's not a terrible miss as he finds the left bunker and is joined in the sand by Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler.

They can have their own mini nearest to the pin competition from there.

A bit of a scruffy finish for the Ryder Cup skipper. A wayward drive down the ninth stops Luke Donald for attacking the green in two.

His lay up leaves him 100 yards to the green and he hits a decent wedge into 12 feet but can't make the par putt.

Safely in for the weekend though.

Meanwhile, US captain Keegan Bradley has birdied the eighth and is now above Donald on the leaderboard. He's on the 12th.

Scottie Scheffler gives himself way too much to do with his chip and ends up with a scrappy bogey on the 13th.

Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy are battling with all their worth to save par and succeed.

Both get their rewards for glorious chip and runs to around two feet. Will that arrest Rory's mini mid-round slump?

Iain Carter
BBC golf correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

That's just the kind of break that you don't need coming off the back of two bogeys in a row. He just needed to find the green a little further to the left and real frustration for McIlroy there - he can't believe it.

Scottie Scheffler goes left on the par-three 13th as Rory McIlroy sees his iron shot find the green but then funnel back and right down a slope well off the putting surface.

A cruel break for the Northern Irishman just when he didn't need one.

Rory McIlroy is toiling here. And looks like he is fuming with himself after following up a poor drive with a pretty woeful second.

He somehow gives himself a look at par with a beautiful chip that makes use of the gradient of the green to draw his ball to 10 feet from the cup.

Can he roll this one in? Nope he doesn't like it and it turns sharply left so it's back-to-back bogeys for the world number two, whose round and possibly his challenge, is unraveling.

Xander Schauffele pockets a timely birdie. He is one stroke the wrong side of the projected cut line.

Ryan Gerard is in a bunker off the tee down the 18th and he powers his second shot to the front edge of the green. He's avoided all the danger down the left but as we've seen all day, it's a tricky up and down from there.

The chip up skips forward a bounce and checks to a stop about six feet under the hole. But he can't hole the par putt. Shot gone.

Nial Foster
BBC Sport NI at Quail Hollow

As thousands of people trail Rory, Scottie, and Xander across Quail Hollow, the course’s elite aura shines through the stunning mansions lining the fairways.

These luxurious homes scream high-class Charlotte.

As for our accommodation in North Carolina? It is far from the glamour, but we’re still loving being here!