Jhonattan Vegas refused to relinquish his grip on the PGA Championship and held the clubhouse lead towards the end of Friday's second round at Quail Hollow.

Vegas, who began the day two shots clear and leading a major for the first time in his career, returned a one-under-par 70 to reach eight under for the week.

Max Homa, who won his maiden PGA Tour title at Quail Hollow in 2019, was in the clubhouse with the low round of the day after firing a seven-under-par 64 that left him in third.

Vegas had a four-shot lead when he reached the par-four closing hole but ran into trouble after he sent his approach from the middle of the fairway into a greenside bunker.

What looked like a routine up-and-down turned into a double-bogey finish as Vegas miss-hit his third shot and watched it roll off the green before missing a pair of short putts. 

"Solid round today, a little bit up and down. I would say more than I would have liked," Vegas said.

"I feel like finishing so late yesterday, not getting a great sleep, and having to come back early kind of put me not in the best mood all day. Like I said, it was tough coming back.

"But I would say it was a very solid round. Started a little bit shaky the first three holes, making some birdies and making some birdies on the back nine.

"A little bit of a lucky break there on 17 and finishing quite crappy on 18, but overall solid.

"Every chance you get to lead a major and play with the lead is never easy. So I feel proud of a solid round today."

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Vegas bogeyed his second hole but then quickly settled and got back to even par on the seventh and nearly chipped in for birdie from 93 feet at the par-four ninth.

He added another three birdies on the back nine and caught a fortuitous break at the 17th where his tee shot bounced off a rake near a bunker and rolled onto the green. 

And though far from achieving an unlikely victory at Quail Hollow, the Venezuelan was enjoying every minute of leading the field at the tournament. 

"It means a lot, right? This is kind of what we put all those hours for. You put all those hours to give yourself chances like this," Vegas added. 

"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."