Despite his on-course struggles this year, Max Homa believed a breakthrough was close, and on Friday his faith was rewarded as he fired the best major championship round of his career to storm into contention at the PGA Championship.

Tee Times | Course Guide | Win with Steyn City

Homa, who at one point this year missed five consecutive cuts, carded a sparkling seven-under-par 64 that was the low round of the day at Quail Hollow Club and left him three shots back of Jhonattan Vegas in a share of fifth place.

South Korea's Kim Si-woo, bolstered by a late hole-in-one, matched Homa for low round of the day.

While all aspects of Homa's game have looked sharp this week, he took added comfort in playing at the same venue where he won his maiden PGA Tour title in 2019.

"I think that helps a lot, especially as - as I started to feel really good, I knew I was going to come in here and swing it nicely," said Homa. "I just needed to find some comfort. So this place does that for me."

Homa, who has dropped to 78th in the world rankings from a career-high fifth, began his day at the par-five 10th and nine shots off the lead but wasted little time making his move up the leaderboard.

By the time Homa reached the turn he had carded a six-under-par 30 that marked the best nine-hole score of his majors career and included a near ace at the par-four 14th, where he tapped in for eagle and a chip-in birdie from 49 feet at the 18th.

He picked up another shot at the par-five seventh, where he was rewarded after a risky approach shot, as his eagle putt settled less than a foot short from where he made birdie.

"Yesterday I played awesome. I felt like I had really good control. I just couldn't really get the ball close to the hole, didn't pull the right club a lot, and had a poor finish," said Homa.

"It was kind of in a way nice to be able to play in the morning (today) and just get to go immediately because I knew the game was good. Didn't know I was going to shoot seven-under, but I will take it."