Rory McIlroy plays safe with his pitch out of the sand and is down on his haunches as a par-saving putt skirts the edge of the cup from 20 feet and stays up. He will feel plenty aggrieved about that.

Meanwhile, Patrick Cantlay can't find the right line with a birdie putt and it'll just be a par for the world number nine.

It's another big wind-up and full send from Bryson DeChambeau off the fifth tee, which is a par five, but although he's all-but 350 yards he's in the native area and his ball has just nestled into one of those tufts of long grass.

Patrick Cantlay struck that well but watches as Pinehurst's green catch him out, with his ball squirming off the front edge and then picking up pace to find the left bunker.

Rory McIlroy has even worse luck, with his ball landing around 20 feet from the pin and then tracking back and all the way across the front edge of the green before finding an awkward sunken lie in the native area.

He thins his chip and ends up in the bunker to his left.

Bryson DeChambeau powers his approach over the back of the fourth, and his putt back up onto the green has nowhere near enough legs and leaves him with only an outside chance of par from 16 feet.

He can't convert though and drops a shot - as does Matthieu Pavon after a similar struggle.

Excellent from Aaron Rai who has just ignited his round with a delicious approach at the seven.

He duly slots in his first birdie of the day from five feet to move to level par and into a share of eighth.

That's a good up and down from Rory McIlroy, who is still two shots back after collecting a par at the fourth.

Patrick Cantlay, who had arguably the easier pitch on from the sand on the opposite side, runs six feet by and can't make four.

A rare smile from Tyrrell Hatton as he rolls in from five feet for a birdie on the 587-yard par-five fifth.

Tony Finau goes one better with a chip-in from the back of the dance floor for eagle.

Yep, there's not much wrong with the new driver head Bryson DeChambeau is playing as he's just creamed the ball right down the middle of the fourth fairway - 330 yards down the middle as well.

Rory McIlroy isn't happy. He's gone slightly right and will have a tough wedge shot to get close to the pin from there on these lightning-fast putting surfaces.

It's a 'prickle' of porcupines.

The clumps of grass look like a herd of green porcupines down the side of the fairways.

Bryson DeChambeau waves his giant putter around in disappointment after missing his birdie putt from 12 feet - he new as soon as he hit it that it wasn't going to drop.

Matthieu Pavon makes no mistake though from just inside 10 feet to get his round back on an even keel.

Rory McIlroy is striking the ball beautifully so far as another drive finds its intended target down the right of the fourth fairway. That should open up the green nicely, although he'll still have 213 yards to go on this long par four.

Patrick Cantlay is a good 20 yards back and catches his approach heavy, sending it low and left into the greenside sand trap.

Image source, Getty Images

They're both taking dead aim at the third flag, which is in an accessible position today - and considering where most of these pins are place then you can see why the eyes have been lighting up with a rare 'green light' to go right at this one.

Two birdie putts coming up...

Rory McIlroy's putt gives a decent indicator of the treacherous nature of the one element of Pinehurst's shot stealers aka the greens.

From looking like his effort wasn't going to reach, it trickles on a good three feet. He's able to tidy that up as Patrick Cantlay takes two from 45 feet, and on we go.

When I commented on this group before (19:37), I didn't factor in they had a par five coming up.

Both Collin Morikawa and Corey Conners have found a birdie to put my snark in its place, and get themselves a bit more attention moving forward.

The par five fifth offers an opportunity for rollercoaster players to get themselves a shot back.

Tom Kim has cashed in with a birdie to get himself back to level par.

Another par for England's Aaron Rai.

Ludvig Aberg has got the game, but he's also got the character it seems as he's still plugging away despite that demoralising triple bogey on the second - picking up a birdie on the very next hole.

Bouncebackability I think they call it...

A touch of good fortune for Patrick Cantlay on the third as the American goes wildly left off the tee but sees his ball hit a spectator and nestle in the pines.

That's not a bad lie at all and he slings his second on to the putting surface albeit he'll be facing a long birdie putt.

Rory McIlroy can be a touch more aggressive after finding the fairway. He goes straight at the flag. Decent line but overcooked and a 30-foot putt incoming for the Northern Irishman.

For all his outrageous big hitting, Bryson DeChambeau also has a beautiful short game, and he's played another magic chip up onto the second green to help him make his par.

He's not the best to look at style wise in terms of chipping and putting - but he's very, very effective.