Hungry major champs move into striking distance at Baycurrent

Late stumbles from Zach Bauchou and Jacob Bridgeman have left the Baycurrent Classic in Japan wide open for a thrilling race to the finish at Yokohama Country Club.

The third round ended with recent Wyndham Championship winner Michael Brennan tied for the 54-hole lead at 13 under par with Bauchou and Bridgeman. While Brennan finished strong with four birdies in his final six holes, Bridgeman made two bogeys in his last three and Bauchou dropped three shots in the last five.

Fresh off a Presidents Cup debut and with two PGA Tour wins this year, Bridgeman was unfazed by his poor finish.

“I’m pleased that I shot two under, I feel like I didn't play very good today,” Bridgeman said. “From the start I kind of had some issues with some speed on putts and had a lot of longer comebacks, so that will be kind of a point of emphasis tomorrow

“I feel very comfortable. Even though I wasn't hitting it great, I didn't feel like I was nervous or feel the pressure at all. I've been in this situation before and I feel pretty comfortable doing it.”

Adam Scott, also coming in from the Presidents Cup, continued the stellar form that saw him finish T-2 at the BMW PGA at Wentworth last month. Scott had two hole-out eagles, on Nos. 6 and 9, to shoot a bogey-free 65 that elevated him to 12 under—one shot off the lead.

“It was a good round of golf,” Scott said. “There was some fun stuff happening out there, a hole-out and a pitch-in, so that always helps.”

Scott has 33 professional wins around the world, including the 2013 Masters. But the 46-year-old has never won a title in Japan despite a long history of playing in the country. He would love PGA Tour title No.15 to come in Japan, although he said it’s more about grabbing any victory—he hasn’t won since the 2020 Genesis Invitational at Riviera, comprising a span of 2,428 days,

“It would be nice just to win anything, to be honest with you, at this point,” Scott said. “It's been like six years since I've won on the PGA Tour. I'm frustrated by that. I feel like there's been some good golf in there and I haven't made the most of it, but it also shows how hard it is to win on the PGA Tour now. So this is a great chance for me tomorrow to go out and have a fantastic round and hopefully it's better than everyone else.”

And then there’s Justin Thomas (67) lurking alongside Scott at 12 under, as well as Keith Mitchell, Stephan Jaegar and Jordan Smith.

Ryan Gerard, Mac Meissner, Max Homa (all 10 under), Xander Schauffele and Brian Harman (nine under) were all within four shots of the lead.

Two-time major champion Thomas has a history of winning in Asia, earning co-sanctioned PGA Tour victories twice in Malaysia and South Korea.

“I wish I knew,” Thomas said when asked why he plays well in Asia. “Because I would love to channel it year-round all the time. I'm not sure. Yeah, I have a great track record. I'm going to try to use that to my advantage. I really enjoy coming to these events. I think it's just something to be said and kind of cool and special when you can play in front of people that we're never really going to get the chance to be in front of and see and play. Feel like I'm in a good spot for [Sunday].”