Rookie Squad member Elvis Smylie will play the weekend of a major for the first time in his career despite a late stumble in Round 2 of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

Making his PGA Championship debut after receiving a special exemption as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner, Smylie was 3-under for the tournament thanks to early birdies at one and three.

His first dropped shot of day two didn’t come until the par-4 14th but the 23-year-old would drop three shots in his final two holes to sign for a 2-over 73 and make the cut on the number at 1-over.

Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas maintained his two-shot lead with a round of 1-under 70 as Kiwi Ryan Fox led the Australasian hopes with an even-par 71 to be tied for seventh at 4-under par.

Fox was one of only 11 players to make birdie at the par-4 18th on Friday, his second shot from 152 yards dancing around the cup before coming to rest just outside two feet from the hole.

Tied for second after a 66 in Round 1, Cam Davis made just one birdie in his round of 3-over 74 to drop into a tie for 27th at 2-under, level with fellow Aussie Adam Scott who tumbled down the leaderboard late with a double-bogey on 18.

After fighting back with four birdies early on the back nine, Min Woo Lee (72) dropped shots at both 17 and 18 to miss the cut, 2015 champion Jason Day (75), Cameron Smith (71) and Karl Vilips (75) falling well short of the cut-line.

Showing growing confidence in elite company, Smylie hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation on Friday but endured a day of frustration on the greens in just his second major championship.

He converted birdie chances from nine and 10 feet on one and three but needed an additional 31 putts on the remaining 16 holes, five more than he took on Thursday.

A three-putt from 45 feet led to a bogey at the tough par-3 17th and then a wayward tee shot led to a double-bogey on 18.

Opting to take a drop when his drive finished in the penalty area left of the fairway, Smylie chipped out less than 50 yards from the rough to get his ball back in the fairway.

His fourth shot from 136 yards finished 44 feet from the hole, Smylie showing impressive composure to make the putt from five feet that would guarantee two additional rounds.

Fox was the last player in the field courtesy of his victory at the PGA TOUR’s ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic on Sunday, the 38-year-old’s PGA Championship preparation limited to 18 holes on Wednesday.

He called upon memories of playing all four rounds at the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in an opening round of 67 on Thursday and kept himself in the mix with three back-nine birdies at 10, 15 and 18 on Friday.

Scott began Round 2 with nine straight pars before also picking up three birdies on the back nine at 10, 14 and 15.

Playing in his 25th PGA Championship, the 44-year-old was just four strokes off the lead when disaster struck on Quail Hollow’s infamous finisher.

He found the centre of the fairway with a tee shot of 313 yards but then turned his approach shot over, his ball bouncing into the creek that lines the left side of the green.

After taking his penalty, Scott chipped down to three feet but then barely touched the right side of the hole with his bogey putt.

On a day in which he needed 30 putts compared to just 24 in Round 1, Davis’s highlight was the only hole in which he didn’t need any, chipping in for birdie from 53 feet at the 252-yard par-3 sixth.