The world number three managed to get round the course at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, without dropping a shot and collecting seven birdies.

This included a spell of four consecutive birdies starting at the 12th hole.

Matsuyama’s round of seven-under, a course record, was interrupted by a storm, which forced play to be suspended for a portion of the afternoon, but he was still able to continue his fine progress after the delay.

He now shares the lead on eight-under par with Kevin Kisner of the United States, who got round the course in 67 strokes for the second day in a row to stay at the top of the leaderboard.

After finishing, Matsuyama said he was happy to have a break mid-round.

“I was grateful for the rain delay because I was getting tired,” he said.

“I was able to lay down in the locker room and get some rest.

“I think what was making me tired was I wasn’t hitting my driver like I wanted to.

“I was hitting fairways but I wasn’t getting the crisp contact that I was hoping for with my driver.”

Several players are still waiting to finish their second rounds and will have to start early tomorrow to complete them.

Among the men still needing to finish is Chris Stroud, with the American still needing to get round five holes.

He is currently on five-under and tied for fourth alongside Italy’s Francesco Molinari and South African Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open Championship winner.

Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark, who shared the first round lead, is also waiting to finish off with three holes to play.

However, he has dropped down to joint-31st after struggling in his second round, with his score currently on two-over par.

Australia’s Jason Day, who won the 2015 PGA Championship, is sitting in third place after a round of 66, putting him two strokes behind Matsuyama and Kisner.

Action at Quail Hollow is set to continue until Sunday (August 13) when the final round is scheduled to finish.