Florence, S.C.—Matt Donovan shaved six shots off of his opening round 75 during the first stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament yesterday.

Less than 24 hours removed from a sloppy round that included four three-putts and a double bogey on a par-five, Donovan rebounded with a 1-under par 69 at Florence Country Club.

The problem is that the rest of the field went even lower. Donovan began Wednesday’s round tied for 64^th and enters today tied for 60^th, six shots back of the final qualifying spot. Of the top 33 names on the leaderboard, 29 broke par, highlighted by a pair of 64s and a 63.

Donovan began his round with a bogey on No. 10, but he rallied with birdies on Nos. 13, 14 and 16. He quickly offset a bogey on No. 17 with an eagle on No. 18 to make the turn in 3-under 33.

Any momentum he built up was quickly erased as he made the turn. After a par on No. 1, play was halted for 30 minutes due to thunder and lightning in the area.

Once play resumed, Donovan’s good form did not return with it. He bogeyed No. 3 then sandwiched a birdie on No. 8 with birdies on No. 7 and his final hole of the day.

“I’m sitting there with a lot of momentum,” Donovan said about the hot start to his round. “To make a long story short, I played the last eight holes two-over. It was unfortunate. (The stoppage of play) definitely hurt me.”

Donovan, whose caddy is C.C. of Pittsfield assistant Mike Morschauser, will tee off the 10^th tee at 9:40 Thursday morning. Rain is forecasted for the final two rounds. Visit PGATOUR.com for scoring.

“I feel good over the ball,” Donovan said. “I just got to go out there and do it. It’s go time. I’m still a long way away, but it’s not out of reach. I’ve got to shoot something in the mid-60s the next two days.”