Xander Schauffele and Max Greyserman are three shots ahead of the field heading into Sunday’s final round at the Baycurrent Classic in Yokohama, Japan.
Schauffele carded a 4-under 67 in Saturday’s third round at Yokohama Country Club to catch Greyserman atop the leaderboard at 12-under 201.
Schauffele made the turn at 4-under before balancing two bogeys and two birdies in wet weather on the back nine, including a birdie at the par-4 17th to share the clubhouse lead.
“This is the first time I’ve been in contention all year I believe, so it’s nice,” Schauffele said. “Been playing pretty good golf. The weather’s been tricky, so proud of the fight today.”
With an even-par 71, Greyserman booked a spot in the final pairing for a second straight year after losing by one stroke last year to Colombia’s Nico Echavarria.
Echavarria (69 on Saturday) is part of the chasing group at 9-under, along with Michael Thorbjornsen (66), South Koreans Byeong Hun An (66) and Si Woo Kim (69) and South Africa’s Garrick Higgo (68).
Greyserman made three birdies to overcome his double-bogey at the par-3 seventh hole and a bogey at the par-4 11th hole.
“I didn’t play very well. I played fine, just made maybe two mistakes that I don’t normally make. It was wet. It was not really cold, but the ball wasn’t going very far. The course is playing really long, really, really long,” Greyserman said. “Honestly, just happy to get those 18 holes over with the way I kind of was hitting the ball on some of those holes.”
Greyserman is seeking his first PGA Tour title but understands that the fans will likely be backing Schauffele, the two-time major winner.
“Whether I play with Xander or, I don’t know, Tiger (Woods) in his prime or any other guy out here, it’s the same golf. So, I do think the crowd is rooting for Xander a little more than other people, I could sense that a little bit today,” Greyserman said. “But plenty of past experience. Final group on a Sunday, I’ve done that before, done that probably a couple times. Just go out there and do the same thing I do every day.”
Schauffele has a familial connection to Japan and his supporters on site include his grandparents.
“It would be special obviously. My grandparents here, my mom growing up here with her brother as well. That’s far away from now, but yeah, to think into the future, it would be an incredible feeling,” Schauffele said.
