2025 PGA Championship Round 2 leaderboard, live updates: Jhonattan Vegas leads early at Quail Hollow as stars struggle
Jhonattan Vegas is out in front early at Quail Hollow.
Vegas used an incredible finish where he posted five birdies in six holes to get to 7-under on Thursday afternoon. That gave him a two-shot lead over the rest of the field, and made him the first Venezuelan man to ever lead at a major championship.
Vegas overtook Cam Davis and Ryan Gerard, who held the lead most of the day Thursday at the PGA Championship with their 5-under 66s.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, who entered the week as a narrow favorite, rallied a bit to end his opening round. He made two birdies in his final three holes to get to 2-under. Last year's winner, Xander Schauffele, finished at 1-over. Rory McIlroy, fresh off his win at the Masters, came in at 3-over. Scheffler and Schauffele were among the players complaining about the mud balls all over the course, which caused them each to make a double bogey on the same hole.
The cut is projected to be at 2-over, though it's sure to move around quite a bit throughout the day. Stick with Yahoo Sports this week for all of the latest news from on the ground in North Carolina, and check out the leaderboard here.
Second Round
When: Friday, May 16 Where: Quail Hollow Club | Charlotte, North Carolina TV: ESPN
TV Schedule
7 a.m. — 12 p.m. ET | ESPN+ 12 p.m. — 7 p.m. ET | ESPN, ESPN+
*Denotes No. 10 tee start
7:49 a.m.* ET — Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa 8:00 a.m.* ET — Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Ludvig Åberg 8:17 a.m.* ET— Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Gary Woodland1:03 p.m. ET — Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Shane Lowry 1:47 p.m. ET — Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele
Some big names, like Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka, are buried deep in the leaderboard after Day 1. But how deep is too deep to resurface? According to Elias Sports Bureau, only two players have ever won the PGA Championship after being outside the top 50 on the leaderboard:
Payne Stewart, 1989 Kemper Lakes GC, T-77 after Round 1
John Mahaffey, 1978 Oakmont CC, T-59 after Round 1
So, good luck, gentlemen, and maybe start making a birdie or two.
The course is going to have its revenge. Check out the roll this putt gets on the dried, sloping green:
Wait for it… 😱Welcome to Friday at The PGA Championship pic.twitter.com/YXG9RtlNYC
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 16, 2025
Oh, there will be some angry players today.
The first ace of the tournament went to Eric Cole, who played the par-3 fourth perfectly on Thursday.
🚨 ACE ALERT 🚨Eric Cole makes a hole-in-one from 184 yards on the 4th hole. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/aSLMouOMdT
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 15, 2025
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hello from Charlotte, where the rains are done and the warmth is rolling in. Highs today are expected to touch 90, meaning the water that's still soaking the course — and there's still a whole lot of it — is going to turn Quail Hollow into a sauna. That's no problem for those watching at home, but for the players, it's an added layer of challenge, and for the gallery, it's a reminder to stay hydrated and seek shade often. This will be a decisive day at the PGA Championship, and it's going to be a hot one, too.
The mud that runs beneath Quail Hollow's fairways, thanks to the rain that fell earlier in the week, led to a lot if issues on Thursday.
'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,' Scottie Scheffler said. '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.'
For more on the mud balls, click here.
*Denotes No. 10 tee start
7:49 a.m.* ET — Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa 8:00 a.m.* ET — Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Ludvig Åberg 8:17 a.m.* ET— Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Gary Woodland 1:03 p.m. ET — Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Shane Lowry 1:47 p.m. ET — Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele
1. Jhonattan Vegas (-7)
T2. Ryan Gerard (-5)Cam Davis
T4. Luke Donald (-4)Ryan FoxAlex SmalleyStephan JaegerAaron Rai
T9. Alex Noren (-3)J.T. PostonRyo HisatsuneNico EchavarriaMatt FitzpatrickRobert MacIntyreRasmus HøjgaardKeegan BradleyTyrrell HattonMichael ThorbjornsenRafael Campos
After a strange Thursday at Quail Hollow, pretty much everybody that's not a top-10 player in the world is up there on the leaderboard.
Jhonattan Vegas, the No. 70 player in the world, holds a two-shot lead over the field entering Friday's round.
Some big names, like Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka, are buried deep in the leaderboard after Day 1. But how deep is too deep to resurface? According to Elias Sports Bureau, only two players have ever won the PGA Championship after being outside the top 50 on the leaderboard:
Payne Stewart, 1989 Kemper Lakes GC, T-77 after Round 1
John Mahaffey, 1978 Oakmont CC, T-59 after Round 1
So, good luck, gentlemen, and maybe start making a birdie or two.
The course is going to have its revenge. Check out the roll this putt gets on the dried, sloping green:
Wait for it… 😱Welcome to Friday at The PGA Championship pic.twitter.com/YXG9RtlNYC
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 16, 2025
Oh, there will be some angry players today.
The first ace of the tournament went to Eric Cole, who played the par-3 fourth perfectly on Thursday.
🚨 ACE ALERT 🚨Eric Cole makes a hole-in-one from 184 yards on the 4th hole. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/aSLMouOMdT
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 15, 2025
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hello from Charlotte, where the rains are done and the warmth is rolling in. Highs today are expected to touch 90, meaning the water that's still soaking the course — and there's still a whole lot of it — is going to turn Quail Hollow into a sauna. That's no problem for those watching at home, but for the players, it's an added layer of challenge, and for the gallery, it's a reminder to stay hydrated and seek shade often. This will be a decisive day at the PGA Championship, and it's going to be a hot one, too.
The mud that runs beneath Quail Hollow's fairways, thanks to the rain that fell earlier in the week, led to a lot if issues on Thursday.
'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,' Scottie Scheffler said. '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.'
For more on the mud balls, click here.
*Denotes No. 10 tee start
7:49 a.m.* ET — Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa 8:00 a.m.* ET — Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Ludvig Åberg 8:17 a.m.* ET— Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Gary Woodland 1:03 p.m. ET — Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Shane Lowry 1:47 p.m. ET — Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele
1. Jhonattan Vegas (-7)
T2. Ryan Gerard (-5)Cam Davis
T4. Luke Donald (-4)Ryan FoxAlex SmalleyStephan JaegerAaron Rai
T9. Alex Noren (-3)J.T. PostonRyo HisatsuneNico EchavarriaMatt FitzpatrickRobert MacIntyreRasmus HøjgaardKeegan BradleyTyrrell HattonMichael ThorbjornsenRafael Campos
After a strange Thursday at Quail Hollow, pretty much everybody that's not a top-10 player in the world is up there on the leaderboard.
Jhonattan Vegas, the No. 70 player in the world, holds a two-shot lead over the field entering Friday's round.
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