Rory McIlroy fought back into contention on day two at Quail Hollow after a disappointing opening round to the 2025 PGA Championship, before a sluggish back nine slowed his progress.
McIlroy and playing partner Scottie Scheffler put together a string of birdies on the front nine to climb up the leaderboard, which is still headed by Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas. Vegas, who began the day two shots clear and leading a major for the first time in his career, returned a one-under-par 70 after a double bogey on the 18th to reach eight under.
Others in contention are Matt Fitzpatrick, Robert MacIntyre and Bryson DeChambeau, while Max Homa fired the lowest major round of his career to move into the mix.
Follow all of the latest from the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow with our live blog below.
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PGA Championship LIVE
- PGA Championship resumes with round two at Quail Hollow
- Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas double bogeys 18th but still leads on -8
- Kim Si Woo hits 252-yard hole in one on sixth hole
- Leaderboard: -8 Vegas | -6 Pavon, Fitzpatrick, Kim | -5 Homa, Scheffler
- Selected others: -3 DeChambeau, Rai | -2 Scott, Hovland, Rahm | -1 Hatton | +1 McIlroy
Matt Fitzpatrick speaks
01:07
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Lawrence Ostlere
"I'm obviously delighted I have given myself a good chance going into the weekend and that is all you can ask for.
"Everything has been really solid and I have been really comfortable with my game and where it's been going over the last four weeks. The underlying performance and how I am feeling has been good, the results have just not been there."
Si-Woo Kim shoots low to challenge
Saturday 17 May 2025 00:11
,
Lawrence Ostlere
A brilliant seven-under 64, featuring a hole in one, sends Si-Woo Kim into contention for the weekend, one of three players sharing second on the leaderboard at six under.
Scheffler ends second round on -5
Saturday 17 May 2025 00:09
Scheffler pars the last for a 68 and he is in very good shape, joint fifth going into the weekend on five under par.
McIlroy cards 69 for +1 overall
Saturday 17 May 2025 00:00
,
Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy makes a mess of the 18th, hitting the grandstand before hacking out from the bank of the creek that runs along the edge of the fairway. He duffs his chip on to the green and two putts for a bogey to card a 69 and end on +1 heading into the weekend.
A prestine front nine was held up by some mistakes coming in, and the Masters champion only just makes the cut.
Fitzpatrick cards 68 to be in contention
Friday 16 May 2025 23:54
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Matt Fitzpatrick wraps up an excellent day’s work with a par on 18 to sit joint second on six under going into the weekend.
McIlroy drops another shot on the back nine
Friday 16 May 2025 23:51
,
Lawrence Ostlere
And McIlroy does exactly what Scheffler just did, lipping out from the right edge! Shocking from such close range. McIlroy makes bogey, while Scheffler settles for par.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 23:41
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Scheffler misses his birdie putt! Oh dear oh dear, it was never really on line, fizzing towards the right edge before lipping away for another four footer coming back. What a waste of a beautiful tee shot.
Meanwhile McIlroy’s recovery chip is excellent, and he has a good chance to escape with par.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 23:34
McIlroy hangs his tee shot on 17 out to the right, missing the green and rolling down into a little hollow. A testing chip to come.
Scheffler’s tee shot, by contrast, is stunning, clearing the water to find the front of the green and running it up to just a couple of feet.
Scheffler, McIlroy and Schauffele par 16th hole
Friday 16 May 2025 23:26
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Pars all round on the 16th for the big three.
Scheffler, McIlroy and Schauffele make birdies at 15
Friday 16 May 2025 23:08
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Scheffler chips precisely to the 15th flag before rolling in for his birdie to move to five under par for the tournament. Schauffele and McIlroy both roll home their birdie putts too, and that’s a nice result for the group before they take on the infamous Green Mile finale.
Hole in one!
Friday 16 May 2025 23:05
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Kim Si Woo fires a low fadey wood towards the sixth green, and his ball lands near the front before rolling up and into the cup! A hole in one and not just any hole in one, but made from 252 yards.
Incredible, and the Korean celebrates brilliantly, throwing his club in the air and running down the fairway.
That moment has fired him up to five under par, joint fourth on the leaderboard.
PGA Championship 2025 – leaderboard
Friday 16 May 2025 23:02
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Here is how the leaderboard looks right now. Scottie Scheffler has got himself right in the mix, joint sixth on four under par, and he could just be the favourite right now.
-8 Vegas (70)
-6 Pavon (65), Fitzpatrick (15)
-5 Homa (64)
-4 seven players
McIlroy back to level par
Friday 16 May 2025 22:55
,
Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy and Scheffler make birdies, but Schauffele has to settle for par and the world No 3 is in a battle here to make the cut, which at present is set to be +2.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 22:43
,
Lawrence Ostlere
A bit of fun here: Rory, Scottie and Xander are all in the greenside bunker on the par-four 14th after long tee shots, so it’s a shootout.
Scheffler goes first and it’s perfection, checking and rolling out to stop about a foot or two from the hole.
McIlroy goes next and it’s not bad, but not great, and he’ll have perhaps eight feet for birdie.
Schauffele’s effort releases too far and he’ll have the first putt of the group.
Scheffler drops a shot at 13
Friday 16 May 2025 22:27
,
Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy’s response to the setback is admirable, chipping beautifully to about four feet to make par. Schauffele plays an almost identical shot for the same score, but Scheffler can’t pull of the tough up-and-down he needs from the left rough, and makes bogey.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 22:22
,
Lawrence Ostlere
It goes from bad to worse for McIlroy, whose tee shot lands in the heart of the 13th green before funneling horribly off the edge and down into a furrow. That is cruel and he’s frustrated, throwing his club to the floor. A tough chip to come.
Scheffler’s tee shot is worse, crashing into spectators a long way left.
McIlroy makes back-to-back bogeys
Friday 16 May 2025 22:18
,
Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy makes another bogey at 12 and that’s a huge blow after such a sublime front nine. It was a short but tricky putt which swung from right to left, and he just under-read the break. He’s back to +1.
Fitzpatrick moves joint-second on leaderboard
Friday 16 May 2025 22:14
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Lawrence Ostlere
Matt Fitzpatrick has really got his game together this week, it seems. He birdies 12, his sixth of the day, to move to six under par for the tournament.
McIlroy makes first bogey of second round
Friday 16 May 2025 22:01
,
Lawrence Ostlere
A blow for Rory McIlroy, whose momentum is stalled by a bogey on the 11th, narrowly missing his par putt from aroud six feet. He drops back to level par.
Mickelson loses battle with bunker
Friday 16 May 2025 21:46
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Lawrence Ostlere
Oh boy: Phil Mickelson had been having a fine day to make up for yesterday’s disaster, but he has just had a nightmare in a bunker, slicing through sand THREE TIMES without getting his ball out of the trap. He finally emerges at the fourth attempt, and his playing partner Tommy Fleetwood doesn’t know where to look. Eeesh.
McIlroy picks up another shot to reach -1
Friday 16 May 2025 21:40
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Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy and Schauffele birdie the 10th but Scheffler misses his short birdie putt and he fumes, audibly swearing at the green, or his ball, or just himself. That one hurt.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 21:21
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Lawrence Ostlere
The star group reach the turn with pars all round on the ninth.
McIlroy is three under for the day, as is Scheffler, but Schauffele is two over and scrambling to make the projected +1 cut line.
-4 Scheffler, E Rory McIlroy, +3 Schauffele (9)
Scheffler and McIlroy on the march
Friday 16 May 2025 21:03
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Lawrence Ostlere
Ominous from Scottie Scheffler, as he birdies the short par-four eighth hole to move to four under. McIlroy matches that birdie and he’s got himself down to even par – both players are looking supreme out there.
Schauffele pars.
Smalley moves to seven under
Friday 16 May 2025 21:00
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Lawrence Ostlere
Alex Smalley is going along nicely today at three under par through 10 holes, and he has broken out from the chasing pack to only one shot behind leader Jhonattan Vegas.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 20:54
,
Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy stripes his drive down the eighth fairway. He seems to have fixed whatever was going wrong with the big stick yesterday.
McIlroy picks up a shot on par-five 7th
Friday 16 May 2025 20:44
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Lawrence Ostlere
Schauffele chips in to save par on the seventh hole, and that’s important to give himself a chance of making the weekend. He’s on +3, and it looks like +1 could be the cut mark.
McIlroy follows with a steady birdie putt to move to +1.
Par for Scheffler.
Fitzpatrick bogeys 8th hole
Friday 16 May 2025 20:40
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Urgh – Matt Fitzpatrick sees a short putt lip out on eight, and his visit to -5 doesn’t last long.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 20:27
,
Lawrence Ostlere
That Lowry moment:
This rules official will not be receiving a Christmas card from Shane Lowry. pic.twitter.com/D7Ed9Z1n6G
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) May 16, 2025
Lowry fumes after back luck on 8th
Friday 16 May 2025 20:25
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Shane Lowry is furious. His tee shot rolls into a pitch mark and it leaves him an impossible lie, and he can’t hack out properly. It’s a bad break which totally ruins his hole, and he lashes his club at the ground furiously in frustration. A moment later he walks off with a bogey and gives the middle finger to the hole, too. Oh dear.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 20:21
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Scheffler almost nails his putt from off the green on par-three six, and he’ll have a short one for par.
McIlroy rolls home his par, but Schauffele just misses his eight footer and that will be a bogey.
Donald doubles to fall back
Friday 16 May 2025 20:13
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Lawrence Ostlere
A pity here, as Luke Donald doubles the 18th hole (his ninth) after finding the water, and that sets him back to three under.
Scheffler makes birdie on third hole
Friday 16 May 2025 19:42
,
Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy saves par with an excellent downhill putt on three. Scheffler birdies to move to -3.
Vegas finishes with double bogey
Friday 16 May 2025 19:41
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Our leader Vegas double bogeys the 18th! Oh dear. First he hit a woeful bunker shot which found the false front and rolled back down off the green, and then he missed a putt from perhaps two feet.
That’s a disappointing end to what had been a good day, and the Venezuelan’s lead is cut from four to two.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 19:33
,
Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy is having to scrap on the third hole after missing the fairway with his drive and getting blocked out by a tree. He scurries a low one up close to the green and then chips six feet past, leaving himself a fast downhill putt for par.
McIlroy moves to +2
Friday 16 May 2025 19:21
,
Lawrence Ostlere
And McIlroy makes the 15ft putt! Just what he needed on the second hole.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 19:19
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Much, much better from McIlroy, who drives long on the second fairway, cutting off the bend, before sticking his wedge close to set up a birdie chance.
McIlroy makes up and down on 1st
Friday 16 May 2025 19:12
,
Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy recovers well from the bunker on the first to make a crucial par save. Scheffler does likewise but Schauffele bogeys to drop back to +2.
Vegas given helping hand by rake
Friday 16 May 2025 19:08
,
Lawrence Ostlere
An extraordinary moment for leader Jhonattan Vegas, whose wayward tee shot on the par-three 17th hits a rake lying on the edge of a greenside bunker and bounces on to the short stuff. What a stroke of fortune for the man out in front.
Donald joins chasing pack on five under
Friday 16 May 2025 19:04
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Luke Donald wipes out his early bogey with a couple of birdies to move to joint-third on the leaderboard at five under par.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 18:58
,
Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy finds the fairway with his opening tee shot – an immediate improvement on yesterday’s driving show – but follows it with a slightly overdrawn approach which finds the greenside bunker, and he’s short-sided.
McIlroy set to begin second round
Friday 16 May 2025 18:43
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Rory McIlroy strides to the first tee wearing a burnt orange shirt over white trousers, all smiles. He needs to shoot at most a 66, for my money, to be back in this tournament.
Hovland finishes round with a birdie
Friday 16 May 2025 18:39
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Chip in! Viktor Hovland finds the cup on the 18th and doesn’t need his putter. There’s that famous big grin.
That birdie levels a rollercoaster round, and the Norwegian will begin the weekend on two under par.
DeChambeau makes fifth birdie of his second round
Friday 16 May 2025 18:26
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Bryson powers in a five foot birdie putt on 8 (his 17th) to move to four under par, and waves to the crowd. He knows he is right in this.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 18:10
,
Lawrence Ostlere
McIlroy, Scheffler and Schauffele are tuning up before their 6.46pm BST tee time.
The Masters champion struggled badly off the tee yesterday and needs to come back looking like a completely different player if he is to get himself back into contention.
Vegas moves to nine under par
Friday 16 May 2025 17:59
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Vegas birdies 13 and he’s out at nine under par, three clear once more.
Homa posts 64 to end round two on five under
Friday 16 May 2025 17:23
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Max Homa pars the last to complete a stunning 64 – who saw that coming after his tough time recently? – and the popular American will go into the weekend right in the mix at the sharp end of this PGA Championship.
Vegas extends lead to three shots
Friday 16 May 2025 17:18
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Jhonattan Vegas birdies 10 to move to eight under, three clear of his nearest rivals.
PGA Championship 2025
Friday 16 May 2025 17:12
,
Lawrence Ostlere
Homa misses that birdie putt but another par keeps him on seven under par for the day, with one more hole to play.
Homa joins chasing pack on -5
Friday 16 May 2025 17:01
,
Lawrence Ostlere
What a day Max Home is having, with six birdies and one eagle on his card through 16 holes, albeit one bogey too. He started on the 10th and is currently on the par-four eighth, his penultimate hole of the day, where his approach leaves him perhaps 10 feet for another birdie.
PGA Championship
Friday 16 May 2025 16:43
,
Lawrence Ostlere
JJ Spaun drains a long birdie putt on 14 to take a share of second on the leaderboard. He’s five under today and making a serious move into contention.
US PGA Championship leaderboard
Friday 16 May 2025 16:15
,
Mike Jones
-7: Vegas
-5: Rai, Thorbjornsen, Gerard
-4: Homa, Spaun, Pavon, Jaeger, Smalley, Fox, Donald
Vegas moves further ahead!
Friday 16 May 2025 16:11
,
Mike Jones
Jhonattan Vegas gets it to drop!
The putt for birdie was aroung eight feet and the leader knocks it right-to-left and rolls the ball into the cup.
He’s back to -7.
Vegas has birdie chance
Friday 16 May 2025 16:10
,
Mike Jones
The current leader has a putt for eagle on the seventh.
He’s just on the front of the green and has a 40ft putt for eagle. It’s all uphill and he smokes his putt.
The ball rolls past the cup and leaves Vegas with a tricky return putt for birdie.
His lead will extend if he makes it.
US PGA Championship
Friday 16 May 2025 16:05
,
Mike Jones
All action through the opening stages of round 2 and there’s still a couple of hours before Rory McIlroy takes to the course.
Homa bogeys 13
Friday 16 May 2025 15:58
,
Mike Jones
It’s probably a bit of due karma for Max Homa after his birdie on 12.
With his tee shot he goes over the green on 13 then stumbles with the chip back.
He leaves it in the short stuff and two-putts for a bogey four.
Back to -4.
Another one!
Friday 16 May 2025 15:49
,
Mike Jones
Over on 12, Max Homa’s exceptional day goes on.
He’s in trouble off the tee but a solid second and a fine 20ft putt allows him to steal another shot.
He’s up to -5 and is just one off the lead.
Slow and steady
Friday 16 May 2025 15:46
,
Mike Jones
Bryson DeChambeau’s booming drive comes inhandy on a 526-yard par four.
He smokes the ball 359 yards off the tee and lays up to around 17ft with his approach.
A well judged putt brings up a birdie and he moves to -2.
It’s been a frustrating round so far but he’s done well to stay bogey-free and now his rewards may come.
Oh JJ
Friday 16 May 2025 15:35
,
Mike Jones
JJ Spaun is having an incredible round too.
He’s got five birdies now, and a bogey, having started his round at level par.
Moving to -4, he’s right in contention for the lead after 10 holes.
Bryson three-putts
Friday 16 May 2025 15:25
,
Mike Jones
The course is starting to take back some of the early shots that were gained.
Bryson DeChambeau is the latest to feel the sting though he manages to avoid dropping a shot.
A lovely two shots on 15 get him on the green and in with the chance of a eagle.
He’s a long way from the hole, around 50ft, and smokes his putt past the hole and off the back of the turf.
Two putts from there see him save par but that will feel as though his dropped a shot.
A nightmare for Hatton
Friday 16 May 2025 15:19
,
Mike Jones
Tyrell Hatton has outdone Adam Scott.
Also down the 18th, Hatton is in trouble off the tee and lands just above the creek.
He takes a penalty drop and pushes his third into the thick stuff on the right.
After his fourth, Hatton is still short of the green before his fifth topples off the slope an drolls back down.
A strong up-and-down gets him through the hole with a seven but that’s a triple bogey and he falls away from the lead.
Double Bogey for Scott
Friday 16 May 2025 15:15
,
Mike Jones
All of Adam Scott’s good work is wiped out with a terrible trip down the 18th.
He slides a bogey putt to the right side of the hole and shakes his head in horror.
The best he can settle for is a double bogey and he drops away to -2.
Why ‘mud balls’ are angering the world’s best players at PGA Championship
Friday 16 May 2025 15:15
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Mike Jones
World number one Scottie Scheffler hit out at the decision not to allow preferred lies, saying “mud balls” cost him two shots in the first round of the US PGA Championship.
Despite torrential rain disrupting practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday, tournament organisers opted not to allow players to "lift, clean and place" balls in the fairway at Quail Hollow.
That raised the prospect of more complaints about "mud balls", as voiced by Jordan Spieth at last month's Masters, and they duly arrived after Scheffler completed an opening 69.
How low can Homa go?
Friday 16 May 2025 15:08
,
Mike Jones
Max Homa went out in six under par across the nine holes on the back side of the course.
Can he go lower than Jhonattan Vegas’ seven under yesterday?
Homa chips in!
Friday 16 May 2025 15:00
,
Mike Jones
Max Homa has played, possibly, the best front nine of the season.
Six under par thru nine holes, four birdies and an eagle with four pars and no dropped shots.
On 18, his ninth hole, Homa chips up the slope at the bottom of the green and aims for the pin.
The weight is perfect and the ball drops. The American is -4 for the tournament and just a couple shots off the lead.
He wouldn’t have thought that was possible at the start of the day.
Another birdie for Rai
Friday 16 May 2025 14:55
,
Mike Jones
Aaron Rai has completely turned his round around.
Two dropped shots to start the day before birdies on the fourth and fifth got him back on track.
An eagle putt on the seventh just comes up short and the 30-year-old rolls in the next shot for a third birdie of the day.
He has a share of second place at -5 now and his accuracy is paying off handsomely so far.
Close one from Hatton!
Friday 16 May 2025 14:47
,
Mike Jones
Tyrell Hatton’s mood may be improving.
A delightful tee shot on the 17th almost lands him a hole-in-one.
A big bounce short of the pin sends the ball forward then a shorter bounce takes it past the hole by a couple of centimetres.
The ball continues to roll and his left with around 10ft for birdie.
US PGA Championship leaderboard
Friday 16 May 2025 14:45
,
Mike Jones
-6: Vegas
-5: Davis, Gerard
-4: Rai, Hatton, Scott, Thorbjornsen, Jaeger, Smalley, Fox, Donald
Scott just two shots back
Friday 16 May 2025 14:42
,
Mike Jones
Adam Scott is pushing closer to the leader.
A solid first seven holes (all on the back nine) sees him record consecutive birdies and move up to -4.
The 44-year-old is due a strong major outing and the US PGA Championship tends to be accessible for the older players on the tour.
Overnight leader starts his round
Friday 16 May 2025 14:36
,
Mike Jones
Jhonattan Vegas leads the PGA Championship after a superb round of -7 yesterday.
He’s struggling out there though. Vegas found two bunkers on the fist but scrambled a par only to bogey the second and drop a shot.
He’s still leading but the gap is down to one now.
Hatton is ticking
Friday 16 May 2025 14:34
,
Mike Jones
After a strong start for Tyrell Hatton his famous temper is starting to bubble up.
A dropped shot moves him back to -4 before he miscues his approach to the 16th green.
He pulls it left and lands the ball on the dancefloor though he’s around 30ft from the hole.
As such, he shakes his head and admonishes himself as he strides towards the green. That’s not a bad shot at all but Hatton has higher standards.
Double bogey for Hovland
Friday 16 May 2025 14:29
,
Mike Jones
A shocker for Viktor Hovland at 12.
His approach shot doesn’t reach the green and as he chips up from the bottom of a steep slope his ball almost comes to a stop before rolling back to his feet.
His second attempt ends with the same result then the third finishes right on the edge of the cup.
That limits the damage to two dropped shots and he slips back to -1.
Rai back to four under
Friday 16 May 2025 14:22
,
Mike Jones
Aaron Rai started the day at -4 but consecutive bogeys on the first and second threatened to derail him.
A par on the third managed to stop the rot and he’s turned around his form with back-to-back bogeys on the fourth and fifth.
Morikawa finding form
Friday 16 May 2025 14:17
,
Mike Jones
Collin Morikawa is another player who has started fast.
Two birdies in three holes, at 10 and 12, and he’s -3 for the tournament.
Equally, Bryson DeChambeau gets up and down from 43 yards on his first hole, the 10th, to open with birdie.
Bryson moves into the red.
US PGA Championship
Friday 16 May 2025 14:13
,
Mike Jones
