AMERICAN Jacob Bridgeman made his intentions clear from the opening hole of Saturday’s Genesis Invitational third round, scoring seven birdies and an eagle to open up a six-shot lead from Rory McIlroy in Los Angeles.

The Northern Irishman entered the weekend just one shot behind Bridgeman and England’s Marco Penge, but Bridgeman quickly opened up some space at the top of the leaderboard with birdies on three of his first four holes.

A dropped shot on the eighth did nothing to derail his momentum as the 26-year-old went birdie, eagle, birdie immediately after the turn.

Two more birdies and a bogey down the stretch saw Bridgeman card a score of seven-under 64, which pushed him to 19 under for the tournament.

McIlroy trails by six after shooting 69 on Saturday.

England’s Aaron Rai carded a five-under 66 to sit two shots further back, while joint-overnight leader Penge fell to equal-seventh place after struggling to a score of three-over 74.