DOTHAN, Alabama—Clemson senior Jacob Bridgeman began the third round of the PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament at RTJ Golf Trail at Highland Oaks five strokes behind 36-hole leader Chandler Eaton. By the time he made the turn to his back nine, he held a two-stroke advantage.

A 6-under 30 opening nine has a way of helping an upward leaderboard move.

“It’s pretty fun. It doesn’t happen often, and when it does it’s a lot of fun,” Bridgeman said of his early fireworks. “You feel like you can’t miss.”

Bridgeman couldn’t finish his round as a rain delay in the morning left 30 players still on the course unable to finish their third rounds due to darkness.

More bad weather is predicted Friday, but officials will restart the third round at 7 a.m., CST and then send players right back out without regrouping by score in the hope of finishing the final round on time. A Saturday finish is a possibility.

Bridgeman, playing with Ian Martin and Bryce Hendrix, started his round on No. 10, and began his day birdie-eagle, making a pair of six footers. His par-5 eagle on his second hole was particularly impressive, as he nestled hit his second-shot approach from 245 yards with a 3-iron close. He followed that with three consecutive pars before birdieing Nos. 15, 17 and 18, making 34 feet worth of putts on those three holes to make the turn.

“Normally for me, when I get hot it’s with the putter. When I start seeing lines from 10 to 20 feet, that’s when I’m really locked in and can make a lot of birdies,” said Bridgeman, currently 13th in the PGA TOUR University rankings and the 26th-ranked amateur in the world.

As he moved to his second nine, Bridgeman made a short birdie putt at the first hole to get to 7-under for the day and 14-under overall. He then made three consecutive pars to close his day, getting up and down from a sidehill lie, rolling in an eight-footer on the par-3 fourth hole as the sun quickly set.