Xander Schauffele makes move on 2025 Baycurrent Classic leaderboard entering weekend in Japan

Emerging from an overnight pack of three, Max Greyserman coasted past the field Friday at Yokohama Country Club and into pole position at the 2025 Baycurent Classic. Firing a bogey-free, second-round 63, Greyserman finds himself at 12 under, four strokes clear of Xander Schauffele, Alex Noren and Alex Smalley heading into the weekend as Greyserman searches for his first win on the PGA Tour.

His four-stroke lead at the 36 hole mark represents the largest in tournament history. The occurrence is the second of his career and first since last year's World Wide Technology Championship, while his 36 hole total of 130 falls one stroke shy of his career low on the PGA Tour.

Already four times a runner up in his 53 prior PGA Tour starts, Greyserman seeks to become the first player since Robert MacIntyre at the Scottish Open to finish runner up and win the same tournament the following year. Greyserman fell just short to Nico Echavarria in this event in 2024. In order to do so, Greyserman understands he will need to keep a good thing going as he is only halfway home with a slew of winners on his tail.

"Job's not finished until it's over, so foot on the gas, keep trying to make as many birdies as possible, try to get to as low a possible score as I can," Greyserman said. "Obviously, I saw walking into scoring that it's maybe a three-, four-shot lead, something like that, but that doesn't really matter. I'm going to go out there with the mentality of trying to shoot the lowest score possible."

Chief among those hoping to track down Greyserman is the world No. 4. After sneaking through the opening refrain with an even-par 71, Schauffele surged Friday as partly cloudy conditions with little wind posed little problems for players following a tumultuous Thursday. 

"Survival is literally the feeling," Schauffele said of his first round. "It was tee shots, putts, chips, it was hard with the trees kind of looming off the tee boxes -- your ball kind of gets going out and then gets hit by a crazy crosswind or if you mishit a shot, you get penalized. Like I said, it was just a little bit more forgiving today, and if you were just a little bit more precise, you got really rewarded for it with the greens really receptive."

Like Greyserman, Schauffele signed for a bogey-free 63 in which he was able to take advantage of the easier holes. The two-time major champion made it a point to get off to a good start Friday on the easier front nine at Yokohama; he did just that as he rattled in four straight birdies from Nos. 3-6 and tacked on another before the turn to go out in 31.

"I saw a lot of guys going off on that front nine getting off to a good start, so I knew I had to do the same even in the wind," Schauffele said. "So that's kind of what I focused on. We had two par 5s early on. Just trying to go as low as possible through five or six holes. It was nice to sort of finally get off to a good start that I wanted."

For Schauffele, his 134 total at the 36-hole mark equals his lowest on the PGA Tour this season.  Now, he enters the weekend in contention for the first time all year. Battling back from an early-season rib injury and never fully settling into his 2025 campaign, the even-keeled right hander failed to position himself deep into a tournament to contend for a title.

That all changes this weekend as Schauffele finds himself with only one name above his on the leaderboard and with only one goal in mind come Sunday evening.

"Confidence is kind of the biggest thing," Schauffele said. "Every Tour pro knows there's times when you're playing well and things are flowing, and you don't really think a whole lot about your swing or technical things at all. Just trying to get back to a little bit more of that the rest of this year and the new year."

The leader

1. Max Greyserman (-12)

It was around this time last season that Greyserman started to garner some experience contending for tournament victories. He rattled off three runner-up results in a five tournament stretch, including the Zozo Championship, where he fell by one stroke to Echavarria.

Greyserman has added more experience in the heat of battle since, namely a playoff defeat by Aldrich Potgieter at the Rocket Classic. It should only assist him in his quest for the winner's circle. Through 36 holes, he's doing everything right -- pulling the correct lever at the correct time and hitting the correct shots. If he does the same the next 36 holes, there's a good chance he finally breaks through.

"I played well here last year, playing well this year so far. Yeah, I just like playing here," Greyserman said. "The courses are good, the crowds are good, people are very respectful. It's probably good that when I hit it to 20, 30 feet, people clap, because otherwise I kind of get upset with myself. So, I think it's good mojo, good mentality to have. Again, just really respectful fans and I enjoy playing in front of them."

Contenders

T2. Xander Schauffele, Alex Noren, Alex Smalley (-8)
T5. Si Woo Kim, Sahith Theegala, Brian Campbell, Nico Echavarria (-7)
T9. Garrick Higgo, Rico Hoey, Kazuki Higa (-6)

One of the hottest players entering the Ryder Cup was not a member of the playing roster but a member of the leadership room for Team Europe. Noren notched not one but two wins on the DP World Tour before action began at Bethpage Black including a playoff win at the BMW PGA Championship -- the DP World Tour's flagship event.

The seasoned Swede is at it again as he drafted off Schauffele's heater in Round 2, carding a respectable 65 to keep up with his counterpart. The 43-year-old admitted he was a bit rusty entering the week given some time away from swinging the sticks, but it is clear he has shed that coat quickly as he ranks first in driving accuracy, first in strokes gained tee to green and second in both strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained approach through two rounds.

"I think the biggest lessons from those ones is you don't have to hit every shot good, you just have to stick with it, stick with your practice, your routines and the good play will come," Noren said. "If you start kind of like going more through your motions, emotions and not stick to your game plan, then it's tricky."

2025 Baycurrent Classic updated odds and picks

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

• Max Greyserman: +230
• Xander Schauffele: 4-1
• Alex Noren: 6-1
• Si Woo Kim: 11-1
• Alex Smalley: 12-1
• Sahith Theegala: 22-1
• Garrick Higgo: 25-1
• Nico Echavarria: 25-1

Schauffele is still the man to get the job done as he is the name on this leaderboard heading into Moving Day. This is some of the best putting he has had all year long, and if that continues these next 36 holes, he should be able to track down Greyserman in the process. If looking elsewhere, Higgo at 25-1 could be worth a stab. The languid left hander finished T7 at the Procore Championship and runner up at the Sanderson Farms Championship last week. Like Noren, he signed for a solid 65 on Friday.