What a day at Quail Hollow.

Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas retains his lead at the US PGA Championship, Rory McIlroy is on the charge one minute before ending up just making the cut and world number one Scottie Scheffler moves into contention.

Oh and whole host of familiar faces and major champions are heading home.

You can read our report on what all this means as we head towards moving day.

We shall be back at around 17:30 BST last on Saturday. You'll also be able to catch live radio commentary on 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds from 20:00.

Image source, Getty Images

Only four of the top 10 players in the world have made the cut at the US PGA Championship.

Here's a selected list of the big names and big hitters all going home:

Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Smith, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson.

Oh and Hideki Matsuyama will also not be around.

The 2021 Masters champion had made the most consecutive major championship cuts of any player in the field this week with 19.

Scotland's Robert MacIntyre looks pretty content four strokes off the lead. Have a listen to what he has to say to our colleagues at BBC Sport NI.

Image source, Getty Images

More from Matt Fitzpatrick: "I really feel like I hit a lot of really good drives and my irons have been under control. It's always been a weaker part of my game. To see it pay off and hit the shots that match my intention this week has been good. Then obviously I have made some putts and chipped it well as well.

"I'm just happy to be playing well this week. "If I can just keep doing that and not get myself in trouble, I can give myself a chance."

On whether winning a major in the past is helpful: "Obviously being in this position before is a huge advantage. I obviously want to win another major, of course I do, but I've already won one, so I feel like there's less pressure when you've already won one.

I think you can definitely enjoy it as much as you can, probably a little bit more, Just looking forward to being in contention again. And I think that's the biggest thing, is it's just nice to be in the position."

A disappointing ending to the second round for Ryan Gerard, who bogeys the ninth to record a one-over 72 for the day.

The 25-year-old American, marked his US PGA Championship with a sparkling five-under 66 on Thursday.

We now know Rory McIlroy will be sticking around this weekend - and that's because of much better performance across most metrics on day two.

Interestingly though, his approach into the greens was down on his first round and cost him nearly two shots.

Sorting that out could fire up his challenge on day three.

England's Matt Fitzpatrick is flying high heading into the third round on Saturday with back-to-back 68s leaving the former US open champion, two shots off the lead in a tie for second:

"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."

South Africa's Garrick Higgo bogeys the 17th and now finds himself in trouble coming down 18.

This could be a rough conclusion to the second round for the 26-year-old, who is hoping to play the weekend for just the second time in this tournament.

Rory McIlroy was reportedly forced, external into a late change of driver prior to the first round of the US PGA Championship.

The Northern Irishman’s driver was apparently deemed as non-conforming by the USGA on Tuesday and he switched clubs prior to the Thursday's opening round, where he hit just four of 14 fairways.

The current Masters champion ranked 85th in of Strokes Gained: Off The Tee and 41st in Driving Distance on Thursday, well down on his PGA Tour average, which is first and third over those metrics.

It is unclear why the 36-year-old's driver was not able to be used and there has been no official announcement by either the PGA or USGA as to why his driver failed a test.

Drivers apparently fail all the time on the PGA Tour and it is by no fault of the player, who have no control over the face of their driver naturally thinning out.

Keegan Bradley bogeyed the 17th after failing to get up and down from just off the green.

That leaves him level with Luke Donald with one to play. We catch up with the US Ryder Cup captain on the green, looking over a 20-footer for birdie. This to nick the bragging rights... not happening.

They'll start all square in Saturday's third round. A lovely sub-plot.

England's Tommy Fleetwood has been speaking to BBC Sport NI after a round of 70 left him on two under for the tournament:

"Yesterday, I started the round great but struggled on the way in. Today, I felt pretty good early on but just wasn't hitting the shots and I had to scramble really well.

"Then, from the seventh onwards, I played unbelievable and had my fair share of chances.I would love to have got a little bit more out of the back nine but it's a tough course. You just want to be one of those guys that gets a score."

On how he can chase down the lead: "Just hang in there. Get your head down and keep going. Whatever anybody else is doing is out of your control.

"I'll try and take care of my own side of it - hopefully I'll get a bit closer tomorrow and then come Sunday I can find myself in contention."

Keegan Bradley looks like he's going to end round two on top in the battle of the Ryder Cup captains.

The 2011 US PGA Championship winner has wiped out a couple of early bogeys with two birdies. He's on the 17th and down in Rory McIlroy territory, to the right of the green and in a dell.

Europe skipper Luke Donald is already back in the hutch after a three-over 74 a little earlier.

Xander Schauffele will have a nervy three-foot putt for par, which he drains.

The defending champion and Rory McIlroy are looking okay as it stands.

Xander Schauffele, who was two under for the final seven holes, maintains a streak of 64 consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour.

You can almost see the stress in Rory McIlroy's face as his putt hares across the green and comes to a stop four feet from the pin.

He walks over, refocuses and rolls in for a bogey and a two-under 69 today.

Kim Si-woo is on the ninth, his final hole of the day. The South Korean plays a delightful chip from off the back of the green, using the slope to bring the ball in from the right to tap-in range.

That's a terrific seven-under 64 for Kim, equalling the low score of the week so far.

For once Rory McIlroy's short game lets him down. His chip comes up a country mile short and he'll be putting for par from 36 feet.

Rory McIlroy is stood about a foot below the ball. Blimey this is awkward and he bails out right unsurprisingly.

The Northern Irishman is not simply looking to just make the cut but that's the situation he now finds himself in.

Xander Schauffele, who has been flirting with the cut line for most of the back nine, finds the green with his approach from the fairway. Surely he can't make a hash of things from there.

Oliver Wilson
Former Ryder Cup player on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Quail Hollow

Rory McIlroy doesn't like this 18th hole and is at level par with the cut at one over.

It's just a little more stress over these first two days than he was looking for.

Rory McIlroy hits the hospitality tent down the left of the 18th and is extremely lucky that his ball does not end up in the stream goes down the entire left side of the hole.

He is going to have a horrendous lie and stance and can ill afford anything worse than a bogey if he is to stick around for the weekend.

Out of the cabbage one last time today for Bob MacIntyre who plays a 7/10 chip that is heading towards the hole but races a good eight feet past.

Here's the par putt... borrowing from the left and that's as solid as they come. Straight into the middle of the hole.

The Scot will start Saturday four off the pace.