Schauffele grabs share of Japan lead in bid to break drought

Xander Schauffele closed in on his first win of the year after grabbing a share of the lead Saturday heading into the final day of the US PGA Tour's Baycurrent Classic in Japan. (AP/File)

• Schauffele won the British Open and the PGA Championship in 2024 but has yet to lift a trophy this year
• The 31-year-old, part of the losing US Ryder Cup team two weeks ago, said confidence was “a tricky thing“

YOKOHAMA: Xander Schauffele closed in on his first win of the year after grabbing a share of the lead Saturday heading into the final day of the US PGA Tour’s Baycurrent Classic in Japan.
The American carded a third-round four-under-par 67 at a rain-soaked Yokohama Country Club to move level with Max Greyserman on 12-under, three shots clear of their nearest challengers.
Schauffele won the British Open and the PGA Championship in 2024 but has yet to lift a trophy this year and has only finished in the top 10 three times.
The 31-year-old, part of the losing US Ryder Cup team two weeks ago, said confidence was “a tricky thing.”
“It takes a while to grow and then it goes away quickly,” he said.
“I’m just trying to put one walk after the other and slowly grow that confidence. So far we’ve been doing that.”
Schauffele hit six birdies and two bogeys to close the gap on fellow American Greyserman, who led by four shots at the start of the day.
Constant rain presented the players with a different challenge after strong wind on the opening day was followed by mild conditions for the second round.
“The weather has been tricky, so I’m proud of the fight to stay in it today,” said Schauffele.
“Round one felt like survival, round two felt like the course was pretty gettable and today felt like a bit of survival with pockets of a little bit less rain.”
Greyserman saw his lead slip away with a double bogey on the seventh hole and he finished with an even-par 71.
The 30-year-old went into the final day of last year’s tournament in Japan in contention for the title before finishing runner-up to Colombia’s Nico Echavarria.
Greyserman said he would take the positives from last year’s experience as he looks to win his first career title.
“I played a good round last year on Sunday and I got beat, I don’t think I gave up the tournament by any means,” he said.
“I thought I handled everything well and competed well and executed well, so that’s the plan for tomorrow.”
Defending champion Echavarria was in a group three shots behind the leading pair, along with South Koreans An Byeong-hun and Kim Si-woo, South African Garrick Higgo and American Michael Thorbjornsen.
Schauffele’s Ryder Cup team-mate Collin Morikawa was 10 shots off the pace on two-under while Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama was four-under after a late double bogey.