Aaron Rai started the day at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic tied in second place and fired six birdies and two bogeys for a 4-under to move to the top of the leaderboard at 10-under.
He leads the field in birdies (15) and tied his most birdies in a single round on the PGA Tour in the first round with nine.
“A little slower [than yesterday] to start with. We started on the back nine today. Felt like the pins were really difficult on the back nine. Got off to a slightly slower start, but really good to still finish a few under par and to turn around,” said the Englishman.
“I think we were 1-over through five holes maybe. Yeah, to still shoot 4-under after that start is really positive.
“I thought the forecast was a lot better today than what we expected yesterday. Yesterday turned out to be a lot better, but that definitely changed how the course was set up.
“I thought the pins were a little more gettable yesterday. Today they were definitely on some tricky spots on the greens, so, yeah, not surprised at the scoring. It was probably a touch higher today than it was yesterday.”
Rai holds his fourth 36-hole lead/co-lead on Tour (most recent: 2024 John Deere Classic/finished T7) and is 0-for-3 to date.
He is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 42 in the Official World Golf Ranking and has won once in 121 Tour starts (2024 Wyndham Championship).
He has had two top-25 finishes in eight starts this season (best: T23/Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches).
2026 Presidents Cup US Team Captain, Brandt Snedeker carded a bogey-free 66 to match the low-round of the day and moved up into a share of second place at 9-under. His most recent of nine PGA Tour victories came at the 2018 Wyndham Championship.
American Mark Hubbard carded seven birdies and three bogeys for a 67 and a share of second place. Playing in his 274 PGA Tour start, he holds the second-most starts among active players on Tour without a win on record (most: 325/Patrick Rodgers/not in the field this week). He has failed to make birdie or better on the par-5s through 36-holes, but has played the par-3s 5-under (six birdies, one bogey).
American Brooks Koepka lies in T22 at 4-under following a second-round 70 featuring four birdies and three bogeys.
18-hole leader Martin Laird of Scotland followed his 64 with a 75 having made two birdies and six bogeys but still made his second cut in as many starts this season (T57/Puerto Rico Open).
After winning The Q to earn a spot @MyrtleBeachCl, YouTube creator @RRuffels is contending after an opening-round 67 👀
He can keep smiling all night. pic.twitter.com/QgWAonxuBy
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 8, 2026
Related: Golf’s living heritage: traditions that have shaped the game over generations
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Rai | -10 | 65 | 67 | 132 |
| T2 | Brandt Snedeker | -9 | 67 | 66 | 133 |
| T2 | Mark Hubbard | -9 | 66 | 67 | 133 |
| T4 | Kevin Roy | -8 | 68 | 66 | 134 |
| T4 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | -8 | 67 | 67 | 134 |
| T6 | Karl Vilips | -7 | 68 | 67 | 135 |
| T6 | Taylor Moore | -7 | 68 | 67 | 135 |
| T8 | Sam Ryder | -6 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T8 | Mac Meissner | -6 | 67 | 69 | 136 |
| T8 | Beau Hossler | -6 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T8 | Takumi Kanaya | -6 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T8 | John Parry | -6 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T8 | Peter Malnati | -6 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T8 | Paul Peterson | -6 | 66 | 70 | 136 |
| T15 | Doug Ghim | -5 | 68 | 69 | 137 |
| T15 | Austin Eckroat | -5 | 67 | 70 | 137 |
| T15 | Keita Nakajima | -5 | 65 | 72 | 137 |
| T15 | Ryan Ruffels | -5 | 67 | 70 | 137 |
| T15 | Davis Riley | -5 | 67 | 70 | 137 |
| T15 | Billy Horschel | -5 | 71 | 66 | 137 |
| T15 | Tom Kim | -5 | 69 | 68 | 137 |
| T22 | Ben Kohles | -4 | 68 | 70 | 138 |
| T22 | Adam Hadwin | -4 | 67 | 71 | 138 |
| T22 | Kevin Yu | -4 | 70 | 68 | 138 |
| T22 | Blades Brown | -4 | 69 | 69 | 138 |
| T22 | Eric Cole | -4 | 69 | 69 | 138 |
| T22 | Davis Thompson | -4 | 70 | 68 | 138 |
| T22 | Brooks Koepka | -4 | 68 | 70 | 138 |
| T22 | Hank Lebioda | -4 | 68 | 70 | 138 |
| T30 | Zac Blair | -3 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T30 | Lanto Griffin | -3 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T30 | Jackson Suber | -3 | 69 | 70 | 139 |
| T30 | Martin Laird | -3 | 64 | 75 | 139 |
| T30 | Joe Highsmith | -3 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T30 | Matt Kuchar | -3 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T30 | John VanDerLaan | -3 | 66 | 73 | 139 |
| T30 | Zecheng Dou | -3 | 71 | 68 | 139 |
| T38 | Rico Hoey | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| T38 | Seamus Power | -2 | 68 | 72 | 140 |
| T38 | Rasmus Højgaard | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| T38 | Neal Shipley | -2 | 73 | 67 | 140 |
| T38 | Grayson Wood(a) | -2 | 73 | 67 | 140 |
| T38 | Pontus Nyholm | -2 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| T38 | Troy Merritt | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| T38 | Luke Clanton | -2 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| T38 | Casey Jarvis | -2 | 67 | 73 | 140 |
| T38 | Patrick Fishburn | -2 | 69 | 71 | 140 |
| T38 | Zach Bauchou | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| T49 | Justin Lower | -1 | 69 | 72 | 141 |
| T49 | Carson Young | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T49 | Max Greyserman | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T49 | Cam Davis | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T49 | Garrick Higgo | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T49 | Brice Garnett | -1 | 75 | 66 | 141 |
| T49 | Hayden Springer | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T49 | Adrien Dumont de Chassart | -1 | 71 | 70 | 141 |
| T49 | Trace Crowe | -1 | 71 | 70 | 141 |
| T49 | Nick Dunlap | -1 | 69 | 72 | 141 |
| T49 | Camilo Villegas | -1 | 72 | 69 | 141 |
| T49 | Erik van Rooyen | -1 | 72 | 69 | 141 |
| T49 | Lee Hodges | -1 | 72 | 69 | 141 |
| T49 | Kensei Hirata | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T49 | Chan Kim | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T49 | Marcelo Rozo | -1 | 72 | 69 | 141 |
| T65 | Danny Willett | Par | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| T65 | Johnny Keefer | Par | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| T65 | Brendon Todd | Par | 69 | 73 | 142 |
| T65 | Tyler Collet | Par | 69 | 73 | 142 |
| T65 | Christo Lamprecht | Par | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| T65 | Danny Walker | Par | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| T65 | Steven Fisk | Par | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| T65 | Adam Svensson | Par | 67 | 75 | 142 |
| T65 | Jimmy Stanger | Par | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| T65 | David Skinns | Par | 73 | 69 | 142 |
| T65 | Connor Doyal(a) | Par | 73 | 69 | 142 |
| T65 | Petr Hruby | Par | 68 | 74 | 142 |
| CUT | Rafael Campos | +1 | 70 | 73 | 143 |
| CUT | Harry Higgs | +1 | 73 | 70 | 143 |
| CUT | Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | +1 | 72 | 71 | 143 |
| CUT | Haotong Li | +1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| CUT | Thomas Rosenmueller | +1 | 72 | 71 | 143 |
| CUT | Matthieu Pavon | +1 | 70 | 73 | 143 |
| CUT | Ryan Brehm | +1 | 73 | 70 | 143 |
| CUT | Max McGreevy | +1 | 72 | 71 | 143 |
| CUT | Emiliano Grillo | +1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| CUT | Kevin Streelman | +1 | 70 | 73 | 143 |
| CUT | Nathan Petronzio | +1 | 70 | 73 | 143 |
| CUT | Henrik Norlander | +2 | 72 | 72 | 144 |
| CUT | Taylor Montgomery | +2 | 71 | 73 | 144 |
| CUT | Sami Valimaki | +2 | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| CUT | Vince Whaley | +2 | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| CUT | Ben Silverman | +2 | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| CUT | Evan Harmeling | +2 | 73 | 71 | 144 |
| CUT | Jeffrey Kang | +2 | 70 | 74 | 144 |
| CUT | Dan Brown | +2 | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| CUT | Matti Schmid | +2 | 69 | 75 | 144 |
| CUT | A.J. Ewart | +2 | 69 | 75 | 144 |
| CUT | Grant Haefner | +2 | 76 | 68 | 144 |
| CUT | Gordon Sargent | +2 | 70 | 74 | 144 |
| CUT | Chad Ramey | +3 | 73 | 72 | 145 |
| CUT | Trent Phillips | +3 | 71 | 74 | 145 |
| CUT | Tyler Duncan | +3 | 74 | 71 | 145 |
| CUT | James Hahn | +3 | 71 | 74 | 145 |
| CUT | Ben Martin | +3 | 73 | 72 | 145 |
| CUT | Nick Hardy | +4 | 73 | 73 | 146 |
| CUT | Aaron Wise | +4 | 67 | 79 | 146 |
| CUT | Alejandro Tosti | +4 | 73 | 73 | 146 |
| CUT | Noah Goodwin | +4 | 72 | 74 | 146 |
| CUT | Thriston Lawrence | +4 | 70 | 76 | 146 |
| CUT | Wells Williams(a) | +4 | 74 | 72 | 146 |
| CUT | Kris Ventura | +4 | 71 | 75 | 146 |
| CUT | Jesper Svensson | +4 | 74 | 72 | 146 |
| CUT | Dylan Wu | +5 | 71 | 76 | 147 |
| CUT | Davis Chatfield | +5 | 73 | 74 | 147 |
| CUT | Patton Kizzire | +5 | 73 | 74 | 147 |
| CUT | Chandler Phillips | +6 | 74 | 74 | 148 |
| CUT | Joel Dahmen | +6 | 71 | 77 | 148 |
| CUT | Robert Streb | +6 | 73 | 75 | 148 |
| CUT | Stephan Jaeger | +7 | 75 | 74 | 149 |
| CUT | Nicholas Marchese | +8 | 75 | 75 | 150 |
| CUT | Adam Schenk | +11 | 76 | 77 | 153 |
| CUT | Cooper Hrabak | +11 | 75 | 78 | 153 |
| CUT | Jeremy Paul | +12 | 76 | 78 | 154 |
