DOTHAN, Alabama — It’s impressive enough that Chandler Eaton’s second-round, 7-under 65 is the low round of the PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament at the RTJ Golf Trail at Highland Oaks. The fact he did it in the worst weather of the week added even a bit more luster and shows how dialed in the Duke product is as he seeks PGA TOUR Canada status for the first time.

Eaton leads France’s Guillaume Fanonnel by three shots at the halfway point. Greyson Porter is alone in third, four shots behind Eaton, who is bogey-free through 36 holes. The only holes where bogey entered the Alpharetta, Georgia, resident’s mind came on greens he actually hit in regulation where he faced a few challenges with the putter.

“I had a lot of tough two-putts,” Eaton explained. “It was really a simple, easy round, with most of my work on the longer putts.

“It’s still a long way to go,” Eaton continued, speaking of his leaderboard advantage. “I think I’ll be a little excited and nervous. We all want to get out there and play on PGA TOUR Canada, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I need to keep playing.”

Through 36 holes he has provided no indication there will be any let up. Five of Eaton’s seven birdies Wednesday in what was either steady rain or a lot of mist came on par-4s (2, 8, 10, 16 and 18). His birdie on 18 was particularly impressive, a three-footer to close his day.

Fanonnel was also bogey-free, with back-to-back birdies to finish his round right before officials blew the horn stopping play for the day. He hit a 9-iron approach on 17 to seven feet, leaving the Louisiana-Monroe alum with an uphill putt. He then had another birdie putt on his closing hole, one of his trickier of the day, coming straight downhill. “It was actually a tough four-footer. Got lucky on this one. It went in on the side,” Fanonnel added.

Amateur Jacob Bridgeman played 16 holes of his first round Tuesday then returned to the course at 6:30 Wednesday morning to conclude his first 18 holes. He birdied the eighth hole and parred his closing hole to shoot a 67. After signing his scorecard, at 8:27, he walked straight to the 10th tee to begin his second round, that began at 8:30. He chipped in on his third shot of the second round from the back fringe, 25 feet from the cup to keep his momentum going.

“It was actually a bad spot, and I hit a really good one and luckily it went in. I saved a couple of shots there.” Bridgeman finished the day with a 2-under 70 and is tied for fourth, with four birdies in a row, starting at No. 9.

“I got to 4(-under) for the day then had a couple of loose shots coming in, and on 18 I hit a poor 3-wood off the tee into the hazard and made bogey. But I got in at 2-under.”

Officials halted play at 5:30 p.m., due to darkness, with 15 players still on the course.

Did you know Bryce Hendrix played his collegiate golf at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, where he was the 2016 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year? The native of Greenville, North Carolina, lives in Pinehurst, adjacent to Pinehurst No. 5. Hendrix plays out of the Country Club of North Carolina.

Key Information 

How the Tournament Works 

There were 109 players in this field when the tournament began. There are 105 currently still playing. Below is a breakdown of the various PGA TOUR Canada membership statuses available this week.

There are 20 amateurs playing this week. Leading the way among those who finished is Clemson University senior Jacob Bridgeman, currently No. 13 in the PGA TOUR University rankings. Bridgeman is at 7-under and tied for fourth on the incomplete scoreboard. Here is where all 20 sit after day two.

• Players in this week’s field come from 13 different countries and territories. There are five Canadians playing this week. Henry Lee is tied for 19th, at 2-under, while Jake Lane is tied for 54th, at 3-over. Shaun Margeson is 106th, at 21-over. Eric Flockhart and Calvin Ross did not finish their rounds. The low international player through 18 holes is France’s Guillaume Fanonnel, alone in second, three shots behind leader Chandler Eaton.
• Thirty-six-hole leader Chandler Eaton has his father, Scott, as his caddie this week. Scott is no stranger to the game, having caddied for his son periodically when Chandler was on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020-21. Scott played collegiate golf at the University of Texas-Arlington.
• Guillaume Fanonnel made his only bogey of the tournament on his 13th hole in Tuesday’s opening round. He’s played his last 23 holes without a blemish on the scorecard. He has made eight birdies and an eagle overall.
• Jack Ireland had the best improvement from one round to the next with his 4-under 68 that came after he opened with a 75. Ireland made five birdies against one bogey a day after he made six bogeys. Ireland is tied for 25th.
• Amateur Michael Sakane of Japan, a Florida State transfer student after playing four seasons at Jacksonville University, shaved six strokes off his opening score by shooting a 2-under 70 to move up 37 spots on the leaderboard. He’s tied for 46th
• Ian Martin had a double bogey and a closing par on his scorecard but was still able to turn in 3-under 69 that followed his opening 68. “Honestly, on the double I made, the iron shot I hit off the tee was my best swing of the day, with an iron, at least,” Martin said of his tee ball that missed the green after he misjudged the wind. After he “flubbed the chip,” he left himself a 60-footer for par. He two-putted from there. Martin rebounded nicely with a birdie on his next hole. “I was really proud of myself bouncing back on the next hole to make a nice birdie,” he added.
• First-round leader Steven Setterstrom is alone in seventh after he followed his opening 66 with an even-par 72. Setterstrom was 2-over after a bogey on his 13th hole, but three pars and birdies at Nos. 7 and 8, got him back to even for the day and 6-under for the tournament.
• Prior to his second round, American Peter Bradbeer withdrew with an injury. He opened with a 4-over 76 Tuesday. Following his round, American Eric Beringer also withdrew.

The Players say…

“I just love playing golf and trying not to get too caught up in the competition and play my game.” –Chandler Eaton

“I was expecting rain, expecting the worst but hoping for the best.” –Greyson Porter

“It’s definitely a good start, but there’s a lot of golf left and it’s only going to get harder from. I’m definitely going to have to stick to my process.” –Greyson Porter

 “We made a couple of 15-footers out there, but the main goal is to get the ball on the green in the right spots to give ourselves looks, to be on the right side of the hole. I felt like we did a pretty good job of that during the day, and luckily we had a couple of putts fall.” –Greyson Porter

“I’m super excited to play professional golf. I would play now if I could. I love college, and I’ve had a lot of fun. I love Clemson. It’s a good school, and I’m ready to earn some money and see if I can earn some status somewhere. I’m in standing with PGA TOUR U to earn status, but I came here as a back-up plan to see if I can qualify and take some pressure off.” –Jacob Bridgeman

“Luckily the rain held off all day. It rained on the first hole then stopped, so we were lucky with that.” –Jacob Bridgeman

“Our last two holes we were talking about how nice it was not having to worry about the forecast. We got super fortunate with the weather this morning. I can’t say I thought this is how the weather was going to be for our round given the lightning and tornado watch we had when I showed up at 5:30 this morning. Honestly, it was perfect weather for us.” –Ian Martin 

“We played two holes back to back that had the wind blowing in completely opposite directions. The wind was into us on both holes. We were confused. At least I was. When we got to our second nine, we all kind of agreed that we had no idea which way the wind was blowing.” –Ian Martin on the swirling wind

“I did have a couple of greens where I hit it on the wrong section and I had to have some really good touch on those putts. I was able to nestle them up close and tap them in.” –Bryce Hendrix

Weather for the Round 

Second-Round Weather: Officials delayed the restart of the first round for one hour due to heavy rain in the area. Play resumed at 7:30 a.m., with the second round taking place simultaneously. Overcast all day, with intermittent rain in the morning, becoming heavier in the afternoon. High of 58. Wind variable at 8-11 mph.