CNN
—
Jhonattan Vegas raked (literally) his way through the second round of the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday.
The 40-year-old stands alone atop the leaderboard, finishing the round at 1-under par and 8-under par for the tournament through the first 36 holes.
Vegas, who is ranked No. 70 in the world, is two strokes ahead of Si Woo Kim, Matt Fitzpatrick and Matthieu Pavon, who sit tied for second place.
A day after becoming the first Venezuelan to hold the lead or co-lead in a major, Vegas is not only looking to claim his first win in one of golf’s most prized tournaments, but also his first top 20 finish at the very least.
Vegas quickly bounced back after an early bogey on the second hole with four birdies to propel him to an electric 10-under score.
Luck is not something a lot of golfers have on their side on any given day on a course but Vegas seemed to dive deep into it on the par 3 17th hole.
His tee shot took a… well… fortunate bounce off a rake and landed on the green where he would eventually save par.
After the round, Vegas said the shot came as a “shock” when asked about his reaction.
“Once I saw that it hit something, I didn’t know how hard it hit it and where it was going,” Vegas told reporters. “I know that it was rolling through the green, but I didn’t know immediately if it was going to be too hard and run maybe possibly into the water. Obviously a big shocker in that sense.
“I don’t know, like I said, it was one of those things that happens in this sport. Sometimes you get a sprinkler head that goes out-of-bounds or the cart path that goes out-of-bounds or sometimes you hit a rake that goes on the green. It’s just part of the game, and you’ve just got to enjoy it all.”
The luck would appear to disappear for Vegas on the final hole as he would double-bogey to see his mighty lead shrink by a couple of strokes.
Despite the unpleasant Friday finale, Vegas remained in high spirits, saying how much it meant to him to be performing well in a major.
“This is kind of what we put all those hours for. You put all those hours to give yourself chances like this,” Vegas said. “Unfortunately I haven’t been able to do it throughout my career, but like I said, you never know. You got to keep the pedal down, keep your head down, and keep working hard. You never know when things are going to turn your way.”
“I’m enjoying the process, and just got to keep going.”
Vegas is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour but his best finish in a major came at the same tournament nine years ago, where he finished tied for 22nd.
He called it “annoying” when asked how hard it has been watching previous majors at home.
“It’s been very, very annoying, especially knowing I have the game to compete in these big events. I feel like my game is very complete, but I just haven’t been able to put it all together in a major,” Vegas said.
“I think I’ve been patient enough to not really get too down on myself for not playing well at majors. … I’ve played good at some good, big tournaments, but never a major, right? Like I said, it’s just kind of one of those things that you’ve just got to keep learning about yourself and what it takes to play good here. Unfortunately, it’s taking me a little bit longer than usual, but I’m glad that I’m in this position right now.”
An ace and the world’s best make the cut
Max Homa almost hit a hole-in-one earlier in the day but it was Si Woo Kim who one-upped his counterpart.
The 29-year-old shot a rare ace on the 252-yard par 3 sixth hole to thrust him to a 6-under par score and tied for second on the leaderboard alongside Fitzpatrick and Pavon.
Kim, the World No. 66, celebrated by throwing his club in the air and running past multiple tee boxes.
The shot not only provided a lot of excitement but also history for the South Korean.
It was the longest hole-in-one in major tournament history and Kim quickly pointed out he held the previous record, at last year’s British Open at Royal Troon.
“It’s exciting, kind of like imagination. How I’m going to hit it, kept trying imagination. I hit it like right exactly how I wanted. So it was cool and then it was pretty memorable hole-in-one in major,” Kim told CNN’s Patrick Snell on how it felt to hold the record still after the round.
It was also the second consecutive day the grouping of World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, World No. 2 Rory McIlroy and World No. 3 Xander Schauffele headlined all the talk at the tournament.
It was a lackluster opening round for all three and while all improved on Friday, it was still not the usual play we are used to seeing from the Masters champion McIlroy and reigning PGA Championship winner Schauffele.
Both sit at 1-over par through 36 holes, just narrowly making the +1 cut line heading into the weekend.
Scheffler, however, shot a 68 to get to -5 and within three of the lead.
Coming off his first win of the 2025 season a few weeks ago at the Byron Nelson, Scheffler was positive about his position on the leaderboard.
“Obviously I wish I was a little bit further up the leaderboard. I think I got a lot out of my game the last couple days,” Scheffler told CNN’s Patrick Snell.
“I felt like, as the round went on, my swing continued to get better, and I was able to hit some key shots down the stretch to give myself some opportunities. Looking forward to the weekend.”
Some other notable names were not so fortunate and missed the cut including Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Ludvig Åberg, Shane Lowry, and Brooks Koepka.
Can he bring it on Homa?
“I wouldn’t advise switching your clubs and your coach at the same time, or your golf swing, but I did that,” Homa told reporters after posting his best score in 23 major championship starts Friday.
The 34-year-old shot a 7-under 64 to put himself into contention, sitting at 5-under for the tournament and tied for fourth entering Saturday’s moving day.
But 2025 has been a struggle for Homa with a new caddie, new sponsor and clubs, and a new swing coach all playing a part in what led to Homa calling himself “broken.”
In spite of his previous success and present day struggles, Homa didn’t mince his words on how much it has affected him not only on the course but off of it as well.
“Especially with my wife, she’ll ask me on days at home, like how was today? I’ll say great, and we’ll leave the next day and shoot a zillion. She doesn’t get it,” Homa said.
“It’s hard to explain because I don’t – I can give you the technical version of all of it, but at the end of the day, it is odd. I’ll play some really good practice rounds. … It’s just a hard game.
“It has been hard to explain, but at the end of the day, there’s also been bad days at home. So it’s not like it’s completely foreign when I show up to a golf tournament. Didn’t feel mental. It just was a little bit of mental with a lack of confidence mixed with a golf swing that wasn’t super repeatable.”
Homa, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour, has previously won twice at Quail Hollow in 2019 and 2022. And will look to continue his quest for a third victory this weekend.
A Snake causes delay this time around
If fans thought turtles would be the only animals they’d see on the course this weekend, they would have been proven wrong during the second day of action.
After turtles caused a break in play yesterday, today was the turn of snakes to put a pause on proceedings.
Former PGA Championship winner Shaun Micheel had a close encounter with the reptile when attempting to take his third shot on the par-5 10th hole.
The snake slithered all the way past Micheel’s ball before heading into the rough.
The incident didn’t dissuade Micheel, however, who ended up making a birdie on the 10th.