With Aaron Rai and Collin Morikawa now playing as a pairing (with Jason Day's WD) their pace of play could well speed up.

The newly crowned US PGA Champion collects a par on the second, while two-time major winner Morikawa pays the price for his ball ending up well of the front of the dance floor off the tee and his second leaving 25-foot putt for par.

Xander Schauffele is on the ninth and playing the sort of golf that we can all empathise with.

Deep fescue to deep fescue and then an "uh-oh" as his ball scuds out of the deep stuff and skirts the ninth green before disappearing out of view.

We'll come back to you Xander when you've found your ball.

Jason Day has withdrawn from the championship. The Australian has apparently tweaked something in his back while making a practice swing on the first hole, his 10th.

And that, was that. A buggy was called and he and his caddie were driven away.

Ryder Cowan's round is in a little bit of peril at present. He fritters another shot away like confetti in the win after spraying his second shot into the left bunker on the fourth and failing to get up and down in two,

The breeze forces Jon Rahm to step away initially. He resets, but his 12-foot birdie putt comes up short.

Another chance goes begging. His iron play has been superb - now he just needs the putter to cooperate.

The 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark is going along very nicely as he reaches the turn.

Three birdies - with this one coming courtesy of a 20-foot right-toleft putt, the outright lead and not a single bogey in sight. Yet.

Collin Morikawa hands back a shot on the 18th as he fails to get up and down following an errant approach.

Meanwhile, Aaron Rai take a par with two putts and Jason Day cards his seventh straight bogey in a round that is going from bad to worse.

Not good....

Bob MacIntyre drops another shot. He finds the bunker from his tee shot and is unable to recover.

Pars all round on the 18th as this marquee trio reach the halfway point of their rounds.

Viktor Hovland had the best birdie look but his 20-footer stayed on the green.

Sunset on Long Island is around 2030 local time, 0130 for those of us on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Everyone tends to get a bit more a wriggle on when the thought of returning early morning to finish off enters the head, but it'll be nip and tuck as to whether they get finished tonight.

Not good at all for Shane Lowry.

The Irishman gets his angles totally wrong and ends up missing two gettable putts. A double bogey on a par-five is always a poor return for a pro.

A shocker!

Oklahoma State University Preston Stout won the 2026 NCAA individual golf title earlier this month.

Now the 21-year-old joins fellow amateur Ryder Cowan, Wyndham Clark and Sam Stevens, who is in the clubhouse, in a share of the lead after knocking in a birdie from kick-in range.

Well, I didn't see that coming.

I thought Xander Schauffele had got himself out of trouble from the sand when he hit to four feet but he's fluffed his par putt.

Out of nowhere, the Californian slips one off the lead.

Jon Rahm is playing some sublime golf.

His approach from 98 yards lands just seven feet from the flag.

But he is unable to convert the birdie chance.

So close to joining the top of the leaderboard.

It's another par for Xander Schauffele at the sixth before heading to the grisly seventh hole.

This hole has yielded only seven birdies all day - and if Schauffle is going to snaffle one, he'll have to do it from the sand.

Bryson DeChambeau is first to putt on the 17th green. From 47 feet to six inches. Terrific judgement.

Viktor Hovland, also from 47 feet, is not quite as accurate. Five feet left. Nailed.

Here's Matt Fitzpatrick from a shade under 15 feet. He's walking that in. Back-to-back birdies gets the Englishman back to level par.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottie Scheffler after his round of 72: "Any time you get conditions like this, I think the scores are going to be high.I think it's an interesting golf course. Part of the challenge so far is judging the conditions as well and judging how this course is going to play.

"I feel like this course can change pretty rapidly from day to day. I think that also part of the challenge of the tournament is adjusting to those conditions.

"Today it felt like a day where a lot of good shots were going to get punished. You had to be hitting a great shot if you wanted to avoid a punishment. I think good would put you in some tough spots.

"Overall, it was a really challenging day and a good battle."

Ryder Cowan's bogey-free round comes to an end on the second hole (his 11th) after he finds the right greenside bunker from the tee.

That means instead of being solo, he'll drop back into a four-way tie for the lead.

Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose both make bogey.

Spieth misses a putt from nine feet and Rose is unable to convert from 10 feet.

Both have started much slower than Jon Rahm, who makes par with ease.

There's a big crosswind on the 185-yard par-three 17th. The green is flanked on both sides by bunkers. Not that they are going to trouble the 2022 US Open champ Matt Fitzpatrick.

He arrows his ball into the centre of the green and it releases up towards the hole. He'll have a birdie putt of similar length to the one he's just holed.

"Go," urges Viktor Hovland. His ball is also tracking towards the centre of the green. He's about double distance to Fitzy.

What has Bryson got? He's on a par with Viktor.