Xander Schauffele is four shots off the lead after two rounds of the PGA Tour’s Baycurrent Classic as he chases his first victory since July 2024.
Schauffele carded a blemish-free eight-under 63 at Yokohama Country Club on Friday, recording five birdies on his front nine and a further three coming home.
The world No 3’s score was matched by leader Max Greyserman, who registered six birdies and an eagle as he rose to 12 under for the tournament after 36 holes.
Schauffele, Alex Smalley and Alex Noren are in a share of second place on eight under, with Sahith Theegala and Si Woo Kim among four players one shot further adrift.
Max Greyserman leads by four shots in Japan
Schauffele, whose previous victory came at the 2024 Open Championship, has secured just three top-10 finishes in 15 events on the PGA Tour this season.
Two of those have come in majors – tied eighth at The Masters and tied seventh at The Open – plus a share of eighth place at the Genesis Scottish Open.
Schauffele said after his second round in Japan: “Yesterday it felt like you were just trying to survive the round and at some points it felt like there was almost no wind today.
“If you’re hitting good shots you were getting rewarded for them, so I was able to take advantage of a lot of that.”
Schauffele’s previous PGA Tour outing came at the BMW Championship August when he finished just inside the top 30.
The 31-year-old was recently part of the USA team beaten by Europe in a Ryder Cup thriller at Bethpage Black in New York.
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