Vegas hits the jackpot with surge to the top at PGA

Charlotte: From his days as a South American child swatting rocks with broomsticks where baseball and football are king, Jhonattan Vegas dreamed of being a golf star and winning major crowns.

So it´s no wonder he has been able to overcome injury and struggles for years to find success to grab the lead at the PGA Championship.

“I have the game to compete in these big events,” Vegas said. “I´ve just got to do what I do, and good things could happen.”

The 40-year-old Venezuelan led Friday on eight-under-par 134 for 36 holes at Quail Hollow after his career best major round of 64 on Thursday.

“The game has always been there,” Vegas said. “I´ve gone through a lot of injuries and that type of stuff and hasn´t been easy the past few years, but the game has always been there. It´s about putting it together and playing your best when it´s time to play.

“Haven´t been able to do it at the majors, so it´s a goal I have in mind to put myself in these type of positions. We started the right way.”

His actual start came from his father, a caddie at a golf course near their home.

“My dad grew up near a golf course, and he grew up caddying at that place as a little kid. He picked up the game that way,” Vegas said.

“We grew up near a nine-hole golf course owned by the oil companies and we had access to a course and plus the love of my dad for the game, put it together and we started playing.

“Venezuelans, we´re not known for being golfers, but I´ve been blessed and here I am.” He has traded broomsticks and rocks for golf clubs and balls, but carries the same passion into his game as he had in youthful days.

“As a kid, I would hit anything that I could find. Rocks, broomstick, everything,” he said.

“I would grab anything that I could swing and I would do it. Feel like I was a good athlete as a young kid, so that´s kind of how things started.”