Jhonattan Vegas navigated his way around Quail Hollow Friday as if he has been a long-time major contender. The Venezuelan held a four-stroke lead as he approached his 36th hole of the PGA Championship, before slipping with a closing double bogey to cut the fieldβs deficit in half. Had he parred the last, only five players would be within five strokes of his lead headed to the weekend. Instead, he opened the door to 25 players trailing by five or less with two rounds to play.
Vegasβs double raked in another layer of history to the second round of the PGA Championship. Here are nine interesting facts from Elias Sports Bureau from day two at Quail Hollow.
- The last 36-hole outright leader of a major championship to make double (or worse) on the 36th hole was Rory McIlroy at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional CC. McIlroy went on to win by 8 strokes. Jhonattan Vegas made a double on his final hole today.
Vegas became just the fourth player ranked 50 or higher on the OWGR to hold the outright lead at the end of each of the first two rounds of a major championship. Here are those who have done that:
Justin Rose, 2024 Masters, #67 on OWGR, finished the tournament T-22
Chris DiMarco, 2001 Masters, #58, finished T-10
Gil Morgan, 1992 U.S. Open, #82, finished T-13
Jhonattan Vegas, currently ranked #70 in the Official World Golf Rankings, ended the first round with a two-shot lead. He is the 10th player ranked #50 or higher on the OWGR to hold a multiple-shot lead at the conclusion of the opening round of a major championship. None of the previous nine went on to win. Here is the list, sorted by recency:
Charley Hoffman (2017 Masters, #52 on OWGR, finished T22)
Michael Thompson (2012 U.S. Open, #107, finished T2)
Graeme Storm (2007 PGA, #128, finished T62)
Justin Rose (2004 Masters, #67, finished T22)
Grant Waite (2001 PGA, #101, finished T59)
Sergio Garcia (1999 PGA, #65, finished 2nd)
Paul Broadhurst (1996 Open Championship, #183, finished T26)
Mike Donald (1990 Masters, #128, finished 47)
Wayne Stephens (1989 Open Championship, #627, finished T61)Prior to this year, 15 players have been the outright leader at the end of both the first and second rounds of a PGA Championship. Of those 15 players, six went on to win, including Xander Schauffele last year at Valhalla Golf Club. However, there have only been five true wire-to-wire winners of a PGA championship (outright leader at the end of each round):
Bobby Nichols, 1964 at Columbus CC
Jack Nicklaus, 1971 at PGA National GC
Raymond Floyd, 1982 at Southern Hills CC
Hal Sutton, 1983 at Riviera CC
Brooks Koepka, 2019 at Bethpage State Park
(Schauffele is disqualified from this list because he was the co-leader at the end of the third round last year)Just a day at the beach for Scottie Scheffler ποΈ#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/KMYIsafV6S
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 16, 2025
- There are currently two major champions among the top 10 and ties (Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick). The last PGA Championship in which two or few major winners were among the top 10 and ties after 36 holes was in 2017 at Quail Hollow Club.
That year, Jason Day was T-3 and Louis Oosthuizen was T-5 entering the weekend.π¨ ACE ALERT π¨
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 16, 2025
Si Woo Kim just made a hole-in-one from 252 yards on the 6th hole! π#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/o3HDWlfRIQ - Si Woo Kim's 252-yard hole in one is the longest ace in major championship history. Kim also had a hole-in-one at last yearβs Open Championship at Royal Troon. He is the first player with a major championship ace in each of back-to-back years since Scott Hoch did that in 2001 (PGA Championship) and 2002 (U.S. Open).
Si Woo Kim and Max Homa jumped 58 and 68 spots today, respectively, to land among the top five on the leaderboard entering the weekend. It is only the second time in PGA Championship history that multiple players jumped at least 50 spots to get into the top 5 after 36 holes.
In 2010 at Whistling Straits, Vijay Singh and Jason Dufner both jumped 57 spots in the second round to land into a tie for fifth place entering the weekend.
- Richard Bland, 52 years & 102 days old, is three-under par through 36 holes. It is just the sixth instance of a player at age 50 or older being -3 or better through the halfway point of a PGA Championship. The others:
Fred Funk βββ 2006,βMedinah CC, ββ 50-065βββ -6
Hale Irwin 1999,βMedinah CC, ββ 54-071ββ β β -5
Phil Mickelson β 2021, Kiawah Island Resort,β 50-339βββ β-5
Jay Haasββββ 2004, Whistling Straits GC,βββ 50-255βββ β-4
Hale Irwinββ 1995, Riviera CC,ββ 50-069βββ β-3
Vijay Singhβ 2014, Valhalla GC,β 51-167ββββ -3
- Matthieu Pavon has recorded the lowest major championship round of his career (65, six-under par). His only other two rounds in the 60s at a major championship were at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst (67 in Round 1, 69 in Round 3).
He has matched the lowest score ever by a player representing France at a major championship. Michael Lorenzo-Vera shot 65 in the second round of the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive CC.
He has also matched the lowest score in relation to par by a player representing France at a major championship. Victor Dubuisson shot six-under par in the second round of the 2014 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool GC.
Pavon was among the top five on the leaderboard at the end of all four rounds of the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst (T-2, T-4, T-5, 5). He has not been among the top five at the end of any other major championship round.
