Penge, 27, revealed after his round that his wife is expecting the couple’s second child next week, having recently moved to Florida.
“It’s been quite tough the last four weeks for me and my family,” he said.
“She’s been in the US on her own, heavily pregnant, looking after a one-and-a-half-year old at the same time with no family or friends around.
“It’s been like a bit of a gamble of me just kind of going to compete and leaving her on her own.”
Bridgeman, of the United States, later joined Penge atop the leaderboard by carding a 64 of his own.
World number one Scottie Scheffler made a seven-foot par putt at the 18th to make the cut at level par.
“It was nice to get out this morning on some fresh greens and hole some putts and do what I needed to do in order to get to the weekend,” added Scheffler.