YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — Max Grazerman and Xander Schauffele were tied at the top of the leaderboard after Saturday's third round of the Baycurrent Classic in Japan.
Playing on a rainy day, Grazerman finished with an even-par 71 while Schauffele shot a 67 at Yokohama Country Club. Both are 12 under 201.
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Grazerman is chasing his first PGA Tour title after finishing second at the event a year ago.
It's a different story for Schauffele, who could add to his lengthy resume on Sunday. This includes two major championships, a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and numerous other PGA Tour titles.
Schauffele's mother was born in Taiwan but raised in Japan. Victory, of course, would be a dream.
“Obviously it would be something special: my grandparents are here, my mom is growing up here with her brother too,” he said. “It’s a long way off now, but yeah, thinking about the future would be an incredible feeling.”
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Grazerman, who shared or held the lead since the first round, said he was just hanging in there.
“Obviously, I think Xander and I are evenly matched, so I'd like to increase my lead even more and play better today and all that, but you don't play well for 72 holes in a row,” he said. “The conditions were difficult and I didn’t adapt to the elements very well, but tomorrow is a new day.”
Five players were three strokes behind going into the final round, including defending champion Nico Echavarria (69), Michael Thorbjornsen (66), Byung Hun An (66), Garrick Higgo (68) and Si Woo Kim (69).
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“In these conditions, I'm very proud of the way I fought today to give myself a chance,” Echavarria said, referring to the rain that continued all day.
It is the only PGA Tour event in Japan. This year the event was moved to Yokohama after being held east of Tokyo. The premiere took place in 2019, the winner was Tiger Woods.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
