Alex Smalley has another long birdie chance but again he can't make it, so has to settle for a five on 15 and then take a deep breath as he enters the Green Mile...

Oliver Wilson
Former Ryder Cup player on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Quail Hollow

Image source, Getty Images

Rory doesn't want to compound any errors. The 14th and 15th are good chances for birdies before he hits that final tough stretch. He needs to take advantage of these holes coming up.

Scottie Scheffler makes his putt. Xander Schauffele doesn't and finds himself slipping further away from that cut line.

Rory McIlroy doesn't hit his first putt and ends up three putting as his par effort trickles past the left edge.

A birdie for Ryan Fox on the par-five 15th to get back to three under in what's been a bit more of a struggle than his first round was.

He's still one over for the day heading down the finishing Green Mile.

Ryan Gerard's hopes of getting to within one of the lead disappear on the 17th with a frankly awful putt. He's only 10 feet away and the ball misses to the left by at least six inches.

Still, it's a par on a tricky hole.

Rory McIlroy will be pretty satisfied with that as he clips out of the fairway sand trap and pings his ball to the back left of the green.

Both Scottie and Xander Schauffele head left and will have awkward chips coming up, Scheffler from a dip in the apron and the reigning champion from the bunker.

Both will only be moderately pleased with the outcomes as they pitch to nine and 15 feet.

Not often you mention a snowman in connection with the sand, but Phil Mickelson of all people has just been hacking around on the 12th and taken FOUR shots to get out of a bunker.

Nobody could quite believe it, including Phil himself, as he left shot after shot still in the sand trap before eventually getting out and scoring an eight (8!) on the par four.

Madness

Matt Fitzpatrick is only about 12 feet from the hole but his birdie putt is a big, breaking one from right to left - and he judges it perfectly!

Three under for the day, six under for the tournament and Fitzpatrick is in a tie for second.

Meanwhile, because of the ridge on the 12th green, Jon Rahm is almost aiming at 90 degrees to the hole with his birdie putt.

He sinks the mid-range par putt on the way back to keep himself at two under for the event.

Harry Hall is of those who likes to putt with the flagstick in the hole. It's working for him though as he knocks in a short birdie putt on the 17th after an excellent tee shot into the par-three green.

Rory McIlroy finds the left fairway bunker on the 11th. Still at least he knows what to expect from there given he was in it on Thursday as well.

Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele go right, albeit the reigning champion is hampered by overhanging tree branches.

Ben Griffin was burning along after an electric start, but as happens in golf the course bit back and he dropped a shot on the 16th, unsurprisingly as it's one of the toughest holes on the course.

He did manage a par on 17 though so just 18 to go to get through the Green Mile.

Alex Smalley takes a crack at the 1th green but his tee shot is out to the right and hung up in the rough, leaving him a knee-trembler of a chip shot from up on that bank down to a green sloping away to the water.

Surpirse, surprise he leaves it well short, but he hits a nice putt from 30 feet and knocks it in from there for a par.

A birdie on the 12th has brought Shane Lowry back inside the projected cut mark but you know he'd like at least another one to make this comfortable - particularly with the ridiculously tricky 18th still to come.

He's powered his tee shot on the 14th into a greenside bunker.

Oliver Wilson
Former Ryder Cup player on BBC Radio 5 Live at Quail Hollow

Xander is hanging in there. It's sort of reminiscent of Scottie's round yesterday. It's what the best players do when they're not quite at their best, they just hang in there and find a way to shoot a score.

At the moment, that's exactly what he's doing. He's probably got to find another birdie [to move above the cut line] but he's doing everything he needs to right now.

Rory McIlroy has a long putt from just off the green at the par-five 10th and he judges it perfectly, rolling it across the putting surface to five feet before draining his birdie putt.

He was 13 shots off the lead when he started this round. His deficit is just seven strokes now.

The Northern Irishman strides purposefully on towards the 11th and has a real spring in his step now. Xander Schauffele also makes a crucial birdie to move to two over but Scottie Scheffler looks a tad peeved mind as he misses his chance of a four from eight feet.

Take a look at how much better Rory McIlroy has been in round two compared with round one.

This graph shows his strokes gained for a variety of golfing metrics - and today has been different gravy to his first day.

Interestingly, he is slightly worse on approach today though. That's the only number where he is not way ahead of Thursday's metrics.

Trending in the right direction for sure.

That's a lovely putt from Jon Rahm, who clenches his fist after sinking his par attempt from about 20 feet.

The Spaniard keeps that momentum going.

Now, can Matt Fitzpatrick follow him in from simiolar range for birdie? No he can't, and the Englishman will have to settle for a par.

Tommy Fleetwood is only about a foot short of chipping in on the 11th for birdie, but has to settle for yet another par in a round full of them.

He's carded nine pars so far in 11 holes, with just a birdie and a bogey breaking that run up as he stays where he is at one under.

Ryan Gerard has been going quietly about his business until now, as he picks up a birdie on the par-five 15th thanks to an 11-foot putt.

Thanks to yesterday's 66 he's in no real rush to try and force the issue, which is a good thing around Quail Hollow, especially as he's now heading down the Green Mile...

Luke Donald snatches his ball out of the hole on the fifth green in utter disgust. The captain is fuming. And rightly so.

He drilled his second in to around five feet but pulled the putt left. He rams in the par saver from a couple of feet but he's not a happy bunny.