Xander Schauffele tasted victory in front of his maternal grandparents who live in Japan.
After enduring the most disappointing season of his career, Xander Schauffele returned to the winner’s circle for the first time in more than a year and did so in Japan at the Baycurrent Classic, where he has family roots, in front of his maternal grandparents.
"It's good to know I've still got it," he said.
Schauffele fired a final-round 7-under 64 at Yokohama Country Club on Sunday to win for the first time since the 2024 British Open. The 31-year-old Schauffele rolled in a 22-foot birdie putt at 14 to pull ahead of Max Greyserman and hold on for his 10th career PGA Tour title in his 200th career start.
Schauffele was the highest-ranked player in the 78-man limited field at No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking but after winning two majors last year in a breakout season, he suffered a rib injury in December and was sidelined for much of the early portion of the season. He never recaptured the magic that helped him win the PGA Championship and British Open in 2024. He recorded just three top-10 finishes and failed to qualify for the Tour Championship for the first time in his career. He was one of the few bright spots for Team USA at the Ryder Cup, recording a mark of 3-1-0, including a singles victory over Jon Rahm.
Schauffele held a share of the 54-hole lead for the first time since the 2024 PGA Championship. He and Max Greyserman, who shared the overnight lead, and Michael Thorbjornsen all were tied for the lead at 15 under with six holes to go. But neither of his closest competitors had tasted victory before and Schauffele could almost taste it when he rolled in back-to-back birdies at Nos. 13 and 14, the latter a 22-footer. He tacked on one more birdie at 17 to give him a two-stroke cushion, which he needed as Greyserman, who closed in 66, nearly holed out from the fairway for eagle.
Schauffele signed for a 72-hole total of 19-under 265 and a one-stroke win over Greyserman. Thorbjornsen (64) finished alone in third. It was a day for low scoring, including Matt McCarty, who flirted with shooting 58 but bogeyed his final hole and settled for 60.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Baycurrent Classic 2025: Xander Schauffele wins Japan PGA Tour event
Category: General Sports
