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.”