Jhonattan Vegas maintains PGA lead through two rounds

CHARLOTTE - Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela continues to lead the PGA Championship after shooting a 1-under-par 70 in Friday's second round at Quail Hollow Club.

While many in the field had yet to tee off in the round, Vegas built on the strong finishing stretch from a day earlier that made him the first-round leader before a sour ending. He will go to the weekend at 8-under 134.

Vegas played the front nine in even par over the second round, with his lone birdie coming on No. 7. He notched birdies on three of the first five holes on the back nine.

The round included extremely good fortune after Vegas' tee shot on the par-3 17th hole landed in front of the green, but the ball hit a rake alongside a bunker and rolled onto the green. He finished the hole with a par.

Vegas wasn't as lucky at 18, with his approach shot finding a greenside bunker. His blast form the sand then rolled off the green. He lipped out a putt from less than 3 1/2 feet away, resulting in a double bogey 6.

France's Matthieu Pavon shot a 6-under 65 to move to second place on the mid-afternoon leaderboard at 6 under over the opening two rounds.

Pavon has enjoyed his time at major tournaments in North Carolina after sitting near the top of the leaderboard throughout last year's U.S. Open at Pinehurst, where he ultimately finished fifth.

Earlier in Friday's second round, Max Homa posted 64 to move into contention. It marked Homa's best round in a major by three strokes, and put him at 5 under for the tournament. He began the round with 30 on back nine, including consecutive 2s on Nos. 13 (birdie) and 14 (eagle).

England's Aaron Rai also moved to 5 under by early afternoon, but a double-bogey 6 at No. 16 left him with 72 for the day and at 3 under for the tournament.

Contenders with morning tee times included Michael Thorbjornsen, whose 70 put him at 4 under. He had bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 that halted his momentum.

South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout (68) also is at 4 under.

Cameron Davis of Australian, who was tied for second after the first round, dropped on the leaderboard with a 74 that left him at 2 under.

Ryan Gerard, who also ended Thursday at 5 under started his second round around the time Vegas sank his last putt.

The course continued to dry out after heavy rains earlier in the week. Friday was hot and muggy, particularly for those with tee times in the afternoon.

--By Bob Sutton, Field Level Media