PGA Championship 2017: Kevin Kisner, Hideki Matsuyama Lead After Shortened Day 2

Kevin Kisner and Hideki Matsuyama shone brightly during the second round of the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are tied for the lead, with matching scores of eight under par.         

A weather delay late Friday caused problems for the afternoon groups. Officials suspended play just after 8 p.m. ET because of darkness, with 40 players needing to finish the second round. 

Jason Day is one golfer who will have to play extra Saturday. He is alone in third place at six under par and has to finish one more hole in the second round before beginning his third. 

As things stand, the projected cut line is five over par. 

Here's the full leaderboard after 36 holes at the year's final major tournament:

Things couldn't have worked out better for Kisner. His group started on the back nine early Friday morning, so he was able to follow his opening-round 67 with the same score in the second round and watch as the rest of the field tried to keep pace with him. 

After going for par on eight of nine holes, starting at No. 16 and going through No. 6 after making the turn, Kisner dropped his score to eight under par with an eagle putt off the seventh-hole green:

Putting has been Kisner's bread and butter through two rounds at the PGA Championship. The 33-year-old gained 2.2 strokes with his putter Friday and is averaging 3.1 strokes gained putting for the tournament. 

The stats alone point toward a memorable weekend for Kisner, but Justin Ray of the Golf Channel highlighted a ranking coincidence that could also work in his favor:

Kisner is seeking his second win of the season. He has never finished higher than a tie for 12th in a major, so this is uncharted territory. 

A weather delay that began at 4:43 p.m. and lasted nearly two hours could have threatened the momentum Matsuyama was building. The world's third-ranked golfer caught fire with three straight birdies from No. 12 through No. 14 before the weather horn blew. 

After play resumed, Matsuyama picked up right where he left off with his fourth straight birdie. He put himself in a tie for the lead with Kisner thanks to a birdie on No. 17. 

The two marquee groups started the second round in succession. Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth went out at 1:35, followed by Day, Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson 10 minutes later. 

Among those six players, Day and Koepka are the only ones under par heading into Saturday. Day made his move late on the front nine with an eagle on No. 7, followed by three straight birdies. 

After a bogey on No. 11 briefly halted Day's momentum, he responded with two more birdies on Nos. 13 and 14. He's had great success at this tournament, with a win in 2015 and a runner-up finish last year. His charge up the leaderboard puts him squarely in the mix for his second major title. 

Spieth continued his erratic play on the course, ending the second round with a 73 for three over par. 

Speaking after his round ended, per Will Gray of the Golf Channel, Spieth conceded that his chances of winning the PGA Championship are gone:

Johnson isn't doing much better. He is going to be around for the weekend, but his score of two over par has left him with more questions than answers. 

Garcia's struggles continued in the second round. The 2017 Masters Tournament champion will likely miss the cut after finishing at eight over par after 36 holes, though he was consistent, with rounds of 75 on Thursday and Friday. 

Unlike Garcia, who still has to finish his round Saturday before he knows his fate, Phil Mickelson got an early start on his non-golf plans for the weekend after finishing 36 holes at 11 over par.  

After walking off the course with a 74 on Friday, Mickelson did his best to articulate what has been wrong with his game after he missed cuts at the British Open and PGA Championship. 

"I'm having a tough time visualizing the shot," he said, per Steve Reed of the Associated Press (h/t Yahoo Sports). "I'm having a tough time controlling my thoughts and not letting it wander to what I don't want to happen."

This is only the second time Mickelson has missed the cut at the PGA Championship and the first time since 1995. 

But the event is hardly lacking star power or drama. Kisner has been steady through two rounds; Matsuyama was outstanding in the second round with a 64; Day is surging up the leaderboard (moved up 12 spots Friday). 

There are also six other players within five shots of the lead. After all the low scores posted Friday, moving day should see plenty of shake-ups as the race for the final major in 2017 enters its homestretch.     

Stats courtesy of PGATour.com.