Max Greyserman carded an 8-under 63 in the second round Friday to secure a four-stroke lead at the Baycurrent Classic in Yokohama, Japan.
He sprinkled six birdies around an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole to reside at 12-under 130 at Yokohama Country Club. He was in a three-way tie for first place following the opening round.
“I’ve been doing things well this week from the start and so I just need to keep doing what I’m doing,” said Greyserman, who is bidding for his first career PGA Tour victory.
Greyserman came close on that front at this very tournament last year before falling one stroke short. He has four runner-up finishes since 2024.
“Job’s not finished until it’s over. So, foot on the gas, keep trying to make as many birdies as possible,” Greyserman said. “I’m going to go out there with the mentality of trying to shoot the lowest score possible.”
Four shots back are Xander Schauffele (63 on Friday), Alex Smalley (65) and Sweden’s Alex Noren (65).
Schauffele rebounded from shooting a 71 on a windy Thursday by posting his lowest round of the season on the PGA Tour. He filled his bogey-free round with eight birdies, including four in a row on holes Nos. 3-6.
“It was nice to get off to a good start (on Friday), I was pretty content with yesterday, just trying to survive. Crazy to play this course in two completely different ways,” Schauffele said.
Schauffele is bidding for his first win since the 2024 Open Championship.
Asked what he’s hoping to gain following his fast start, Schauffele stated the obvious.
“Just confidence is kind of the biggest thing,” he 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.”
Colombia’s Nico Echavaria, the defending champion, shot a 65 on Friday to sit in a four-way tie for fifth place with South Korean Si Woo Kim (64), Sahith Theegala (67) and Brian Campbell (68).
Japan’s Kazuki Higa (64) started his round with a flourish, bagging eight birdies on his first nine holes to make the turn at 28. A bogey on No. 12 halted his momentum, and he sits in a tie for ninth place at 6-under.
Keith Mitchell bogeyed his first hole and then made eight birdies and an eagle to shoot a tournament-best 9-under 62. He is tied for 12th place at 5-under.
