Could you imagine if Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley qualified automatically for their own Ryder Cup teams?

Europe skipper Donald is on the par-five 15th and arrowing a wedge into kick-in range for a birdie-four.

Bradley is 10 minutes from heading out.

Leader Jhonattan Vegas is into the brutal final stretch at Quail Hollow dubbed The Green Mile and he's lasered it into the 16th green.

A birdie chance to move to -11? No, he's slid it by and that was an opportunity.

Just needs to keep himself level through these three holes.

Gavin Andrews
BBC Sport NI at Quail Hollow

The crowds are lining both sides of the first hole in their thousands.

It’s Rory McIlroy time and the place is bouncing.

Let’s go.

Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele both boom their tee shots down the left of the fairway as the trio of superstars gets under way.

World number one Scottie Scheffler is up next but that is veering well left over the fans as a shout of 'fore' goes up. If that has found the cart path he might not have a shot into the green with his second.

The American was full of smiles on his way to the first tee with McIlroy, can't imagine he'll be too happy with that though.

Scotland's Bob MacIntyre is under way on the 10th hole. He had an excellent round of 68 to get started and is eyeing a 12-footer for a opening birdie today.

A little wayward from Bob, who has a simple tuck in for par.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottie Scheffler on the lack of preferred lies at Quail Hollow after his mud ball incident:

"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."

Bryson DeChambeau can't match playing partner Hovland as his chip lands nine feet short, and his par saver is a weak effort that just wanders off line and never really has a chance.

That second bogey of the day means DeChambeau will have to settle for a three-under round of 68, but he'll have a sour taste in his mouth as he trudges off - and no doubt heads straight to the range.

For Rory McIlroy, it's all about how good is his bad golf.

I feel like one or two extra shots were thrown away yesterday. He's got a lot of work to do today. He's more than capable, espeically around this golf course.

The fairways will firm up, which should suit him off the tee.

I fully expect him to come back strong.

Image source, Getty Images

Only two players have ever won the US PGA Championship after being ranked outside the top 50 following the first day.

And none since Payne Stewart in 1989, who at least won from a score of 74 that weekend - same as McIlroy.

Ten shots back is brutal - and it's 13 as he tees off - but McIlroy's stunning win at Augusta came after being seven behind - and written off - following his first round.

Plus,at Quail Hollow, three of his four wins have come after he finished day one in 30th, 44th and 73rd so he knows what it takes to mount a comeback here.

First job is to make the cut.

Then see what happens.

Great to see Matt Fitzpatrick threatening the top of a major leaderboard again and he's got off to a tremendous start today.

Perfect birdie putt from 20 feet swirls into the cup and immediately moves him up to four under par.

Matthieu Pavon is safely in for par on the 18th. And that's an excellent round of six birdies and no bogeys for the Frenchman who will be handily placed for Saturday's third round.

Isn't that just golf! Viktor Hovland had a three-chip horror show earlier in the day for a double bogey, but now he's finished his round by chipping in at the ninth!

It's been tough work for Viktor today but he's now made five birdies to cancel out three bogeys and that double to end up exactly where he started the day at two under.

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

It's very humid. Glad to be back in the media centre with some air conditioning!

It's normal for this time of year. Nice this morning but the humidity has kicked in and I'd expect it to rise eight or nine degrees.

The humidity will be uncomfortable this afternoon. Hands will start to sweat and swell a bit. Not a nice temperature to be playing golf in.

Tommy Fleetwood's second round gets off to a sour start. An unenforced error sees him dump his second shot from the fairway into a greenside bunker. And he can't get up and down to save par from there. Bogey.

A rare error from Jhonattan Vegas as he hooks his second shot into the greenside bunker, short siding himself in the process as that's one place you really don't want to miss on the 15th.

It's a par five though so he can afford to just play it safe, get out of the trap and leave 20 feet or so, which he two-putts for his par.

Image source, Getty Images

Max Homa has been on a barren run for much of the past 18 months but sparkled around Quail Hollow today, shooting a seven-under 64 to sit at five under for the tournament:

"There's been weeks on the road and at home where it's felt poor. I've hit a lot of golf balls in the last seven months, like an absurd amount of golf balls. So you get these stretches that you might just groove it well.

"It's been difficult because I felt like I was so broken, and whatever the swing change was going to be was going to be some grand thing, like something I've never done before.

"I've kind of realized that, as bad as it's been, I'm quite good at golf to play decent from some of the positions I've been in in my golf swing. It felt more like my old golf swing back in '22, '23-ish.

"It feels more like me. It looks more like when I swung at my best."

BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Don't miss our live radio comms just getting going over on 5 Sports Extra.

The BBC's golf correspondent Iain Carter is at Quail Hollow with Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson, ably backed by the team here in the UK.

A perfect accompaniment to our live text main dish.

Image source, Getty Images

Bryson DeChambeau gets back on the birdie train on the eighth to move him to four under and emerging as a serious challenger, as we thought he would be at the start of the week.

He's hit some crunching tee shots today has Bryson, he's not been that great with his approach play but with five birdies and just the one bogey he's four under for his round.

Aaron Rai has a horrible lie in the rough on the 18th and just shuffles his ball forward around 100 yards.

Can he get up and down left off of the fairway some 40 yards from the pin? That'll give him a chance, a lovely pitch and run that stops dead four feet from the pin.

The Englishman steps up and confidently strokes in the putt for a par finish. It is round that is likely to be tinged with a bit of regret after he slipped off the pace with that double bogey on the 16th.

A first dropped shot of the championship for Luke Donald on the par-four 12th, but the European Ryder Cup captain bounces straight back with a mid-range birdie on the 13th.

According to Paul McGinley on Sky, Donald didn't miss a single putt inside 20 feet in round one. That's an extraordinary stat.