Max Glaserman burst out of an overnight three-man pack Friday at Yokohama Country Club and breezed through the field to earn pole position for the 2025 Bay Current Classic. After a bogey-free 63 in the second round, Glaserman heads into the weekend at 12 under par, four shots behind Xander Schauffele, Alex Nolen and Alex Smalley, looking for his first PGA Tour victory.
His four-stroke lead after 36 holes is the largest in tournament history. It was the second time in his career that this had happened and the first since last year’s Worldwide Technology Championship, but his 36-hole total of 130 was one stroke shy of his career low on the PGA Tour.
Glaserman, who has already finished runner-up four times in his past 53 starts on the PGA Tour, is aiming to become the first player since Robert McIntyre to finish runner-up and win the Scottish Open the following year. Glaserman narrowly missed Nico Echavarria in this event in 2024. Glaserman knows he needs to keep up his good form to get there, as he’s only halfway through chasing down a slew of winners.
“The job’s not done until it’s done, so I’m going to keep my foot on the gas and keep getting as many birdies as I can and try to get to the lowest score possible,” Glaserman said. “Obviously, going into the scoring, I was thinking maybe I’d be three or four shots behind, something like that, but it didn’t really matter. I’m going to go into the game with the mentality of shooting the lowest score possible.”
World No. 4 Schauffele is the most likely of those hoping to pursue Glaserman. Following an eventful Thursday with cloudy weather and little wind, Schauffele soared after coming out of the opening refrain with an even-par 71 on Friday, posing few problems for his players.
“Survival is literally an emotion,” Schauffele said of the first round. “It was a tee shot, a putt, a chip. It was difficult with the trees coming up from the tee box. The ball goes out and then you get hit by a crazy crosswind, and if you miss a shot you get penalized. Like I said, I was a little more forgiving today, and if I had a little more precision, the greens were really accepting, so it really paid off.”
Like Glaserman, Schauffele was able to take advantage of easy holes by signing a bogey-free 63. The two-time major champion got off to a strong start Friday with an easy front nine in Yokohama. He made four birdies in a row from No. 3 to No. 6, then another before the turn and was out at 31.
“I saw a lot of guys get off to a good start on the front nine, so I knew I had to do the same even in the wind,” Schauffele said. “So, that’s kind of what I focused on. There were a couple of par 5s early on. I just tried to get those five, six holes as low as possible. In the end, I’m glad I got the good start that I wanted.”
Schauffele’s 36-hole total of 134 matches his lowest on the PGA Tour this season. Now, for the first time this year, he will enter the weekend in contention. Although he never fully settled into the 2025 season after coming back from a rib injury early in the season, the well-proportioned right-hander was unable to place himself in the upper echelons of the tournament for the title.
That all changes this weekend when Schauffele realizes there’s only one name above him on the leaderboard and only one goal in mind come Sunday evening.
“Confidence is the biggest thing,” Schauffele said. “Any tour pro knows there are times when you’re playing well and things are flowing. You don’t think too much about your swing or your technical stuff. The rest of this year and the new year is just trying to get back to that a little bit more.”
leader
1. Max Glaserman (-12)
It was around this time last season that Glaserman started gaining experience competing for tournament wins. He finished runner-up three times in five consecutive tournaments, including the Zozo Championship, where he lost by one stroke to Echavarria.
Glaserman later gained further experience in competitive competition, including a playoff loss to Aldrich Potgieter at the Rocket Classic. It will only help him explore the winner’s circle. Through 36 holes, he’s doing everything right, pulling the right lever at the right time and hitting the right shot. If you do the same over the next 36 holes, there’s a good chance you’ll eventually break through.
“We played well here last year and we played well so far this year. Yeah, I love playing here,” Glaserman said. “The course is good, the crowd is good and people are very respectful. I think it’s probably a good thing when you hit it 20, 30 feet and people are clapping because otherwise you’d be mad at yourself. So I think it feels good and has good spirit. Again, really respectful fans and I enjoy playing in front of them.”
contestants
T2. Xander Schauffele, Alex Nolen, Alex Smalley (-8)
T5. Shi Woo Kim, Sahit Segala, Brian Campbell, Nico Echavarria (-7)
T9. Garrick Higo, Rico Hoey, Kazuki Higa (-6)
One of the most high-profile players to take part in the Ryder Cup was not a member of the playing roster, but a member of Team Europe’s leadership room. Before the competition at Bethpage Black began, Nolen had not one but two wins on the DP World Tour, including a playoff win at the DP World Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship.
The experienced Swede drafted Schauffele’s heater in the second round and is back on form, posting a 65 as good as his opponents. The 43-year-old admitted he was a little rusty this week after taking some time off from his stick swing, but it’s clear he’s shed that coat quickly as he ranks first in driving accuracy, first in strokes gained from tee to green, and second in strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained in approach through two rounds.
“I think the biggest lesson from those games is you don’t have to hit every shot well, you just have to stick to it and stick to your practices and routines and the good plays will come,” Nolen said. “If you start looking at your movements more and your emotions more and not sticking to your game plan, that’s going to be difficult.”
Updated odds and picks for the 2025 Bay Current Classic
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
- Max Glaserman: +230
- Xander Schauffele: 4-1
- Alex Foos: 6-1
- Similarly: 11-1
- Alex Smalley: 12-1
- Saheeth Segala: 22-1
- Garrick Higo: 25 wins and 1 loss
- Nico Echavarria: 25-1
Schauffele is still the guy to get the job done, as he’s on this leaderboard heading into Moving Day. It’s some of the best putting he’s posted all year, and if it continues over the next 36 holes, he should be able to track Glaserman in the process. If you’re looking elsewhere, Higgo, 25-1, might be worth a shot. The lackluster left-hander finished T7th at the Pro Core Championship and was runner-up at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Like Nolen, he posted a solid 65 on Friday.
