Rory may be well down the leaderboard but he's still attracting a fair crowd around the 13th green. "Go Rory," the locals shout. A birdie in the bag. That's the second of the day for the Northern Irishman the only problem being he's mixed that with four bogeys.

And right on cue, Jason Day gives us a real-life example of what Justin Rose was just telling us.

He pulls his drive on the ninth left of the fairway, landing in the Bermuda rough. He chops out towards the green, but his ball doesn't pop out cleanly and leaves him with a tricky birdie putt. He misses it.

Bermuda grass is something you have been hearing a lot about this week. Luckily Justin Rose has been explaining to BBC Sport what it is and how the world's best players are trying to combat it at Quail Hollow.

"Growing up in England you don't experience this kind of grass - it grows and thrives in hot climates. The Bermuda is very hard and grows in an unpredictable kind of way, " says Rose, who missed the cut after finishing six over.

"You are always having to guess your lie. It is unpredictable to chip out of.

"When you address the ball you have a big cushion behind the ball so it gets behind the club and the ball.

"So you have to play it like a bunker shot. You don't make contact with the ball, you don't hear the click, the grass cushions it out. It is a controlled duff shot."

This round is getting better and better for Chris Stroud. His second birdie in a row, this time on eight, takes him level with Matsuyama in second and one shot behind leader Kisner.

A nod, a smile and a wave to the crowd. He's playing the best of the leaders no wonder he's grinning.

Eilidh Barbour has just said on the TV coverage that Stroud and Kisner are neighbours in the States. They're side-by-side at the top of the leaderboard now.

Ah. That drop from Oosthuizen was in fact a free drop due to his lie in the woods. As a result he's managed to find the green in two and just pushes a birdie putt wide after traveling the length of the green. Another par for the round. Louis may well be happy to limit the damage today with the injury he's carrying.

Matsuyama's makeable eagle chance from 15 feet is short of gas but his first birdie of the day takes him to eight under and a share of the lead. It is only for a couple of minutes, however, as Kisner completes a remarkable birdie by holing from four feet.

Day takes three putts and can only make par, so that pound of mine is going the same way as the latest unsuccessful lottery ticket. It's Day's first three-putt of the Championship.

It's warm out there for these players. Not too much wind and a lovely day for golf.

Louis, Louis, Louis.

This does not look nice. He's driven his ball right and into the trees on eight and is going to have to take a drop. Even that is not looking too straightforward as every time he lets the ball go it rolls down the slope at his feet.

Birdies all over all of a sudden. Rickie Fowler knocks one in on eight and he's now another man under par for the day.

Anything you can do. Fowler's bezzie mate and playing partner Justin Thomas matches him and moves to -3.

Fortune for Kisner this time. The leader's second shot looked destined for the creek but it has come to rest in the hazard, though crucially safely on turf, short of the water.

How significant will that be by the end of the round? Day's second finds the green but it trickles back down the slope and he is 30 feet away.

Image source, Getty Images

No one was mentioning Chris Stroud before play but he's right in this. A birdie on seven has taken him back to -7 in a tie for second one behind Kisner. He's the only player in the top seven under par for his round today. In this era of first-time major winners, is Chris Stroud going to be the latest?

Meanwhile, his playing partner Louis Oosthuizen is still battling through the pain. A first birdie of the round gets him back level for the day and on five under.

There's a moment of fortune for the 2015 champion. Day's drive at the 546-yard par five seventh drifted right and looked certain to find the water, prompting a naughty word to emanate from the effects microphones on the tee box. But it has come to rest in the rough short of the soup and the world number seven will have an opportunity to continue his run of making an eagle at this hole every time so far this week.

After three straight pars it is not the finish Jordan Spieth was after. He's found the water on the 18th and chips his fourth shot a fair way beyond the hole. It takes him another two putts from there and that's a nasty six to finish. If there was any hope of a dramatic challenge it must now be over. He's +3. Tiger will keep his record...

How has Rickie Fowler managed to make birdie on the seventh? He hit his tee shot way left into the trees but managed to hit out and into the intermediate rough around 50 yards short of the green. From there the American played a delightful chip to four feet before finishing off the job for a four.

It doesn't matter what route you take.

Fowler is now back even for his round and on -3, five behind Kisner.

An eagle two will smarten up any scorecard and American Robert Streb did not even need to take the putter out of the bag. Take a look at how his full blown wedge rolled into the cup at the 12th to get him back to level par for the Championship, two under for the day.

It's a safe two putt from distance for Matsuyama and he is still waiting for his first birdie of the day, but the par five, one of Quail Hollow's easier holes - or less punishing holes - is next.

Day negotiates a tricky five foot putt down the hill for par. Kisner, the picture of composure, strokes in from a similar distance for his sixth successive par.

A wait of almost 20 minutes for the final group at the sixth and when they finally get the chance to play, Day's tee shot trickles back off the green. Kisner is also short of the dancefloor but Matsuyama will have a putt to share the lead.

Leader: -8 Kisner (5)

-7 Matsuyama (5)

-6 Day (5),Stroud (6)

-4 Oosthuizen (6)

-3 Thomas (5)

-2 Fowler (6), Casey (6), Rahm (14)

-1 F Molinari (5), Fox (7)

E Points (7), Woodland (8)

+1 Spieth (16)

+2 Koepka (7)

Selected others:

+2 Wood (10), Poulter (15)

+3 McIlroy (8), Kuchar (14), D Johnson (10)

+6 Westwood (15)

That missed green costs Chris Stroud on the par-three seventh. He misses his par putt and drops back leaving Hideki Matsuyama on his own in second at seven under.

Louis Oosthuizen is now wearing some sort of medical tape on his right forearm. It hasn't helped. He too misses his putt and that's the first bogey of his round after five pars before that.

Sack the doctor.

Image source, Getty Images