Baycurrent Classic Round 1: Greyserman, Cauley and Campbell Split the Lead in a Japan Gale

Typhoon weather does not care about your tee time, and Yokohama Country Club spent Thursday proving it.

With a typhoon churning offshore and gusts reaching 20 to 30 mph at times, the opening round of the Baycurrent Classic turned into a test of patience more than firepower. Three Americans passed it best. Max Greyserman, Bud Cauley and Brian Campbell each signed for 4-under 67 to share the first-round lead, the most players ever to split the top spot after 18 holes at this event, according to CBS Sports. Eight more sat one shot back at 68, and seven others were two back, so nobody in this 78-player, no-cut field is running away with anything yet.

Wind Rewrites the Script

This is the PGA TOUR's only stop in Japan, and it has a new home. After being played east of Tokyo since its 2019 debut as the ZOZO Championship, the event moved to Yokohama Country Club this year. The course introduced itself with plenty of slope and runoff areas around the greens and fairways, and the wind made every one of those collection areas feel bigger.

Tee times were moved up to stay ahead of the storm system in the North Pacific. That did not spare anyone from the breeze. Under par was a good score, and several big names learned that the hard way.

Greyserman's Unfinished Business

Nobody in the field has a stronger memory of this tournament than Greyserman. A year ago Greyserman led on the back nine before Nico Echavarria birdied two of the final three holes, including the 72nd, to win by one. Greyserman also lost a playoff to Aldrich Potgieter at the Rocket Classic this summer, so the first PGA TOUR win keeps hovering just out of reach.

Thursday looked like a player chasing it with purpose. Greyserman turned in 3 under, then poured in a 40-footer for birdie at the 11th to grab the outright lead. A bogey at the 12th gave that back, but a 19-foot birdie at the 15th restored the share at the top. The short game did a lot of the lifting, which tracks with Greyserman ranking third in the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green for the round, per the PGA TOUR.

"In those difficult conditions, I'll take that any day," Greyserman said, per the AP. Asked about the venue, the answer was just as warm: "I love playing in Japan. It's a great culture, respectful people, respectful fans."

Cauley Keeps It Clean

If Greyserman's round had some drama, Cauley's had none. Cauley was the only one of the three co-leaders to go bogey-free, making birdies on both front-nine par 5s and adding two more at the 10th and 12th. It was also earned with the ball striking. Cauley ranked first in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green on Thursday, according to the PGA TOUR. Cauley called the wind hard to manage, which makes a clean card even better.

Campbell's Wild Ride

Campbell took the scenic route to the same number. Making a first trip to Japan, Campbell started on the back nine and went through a little bit of everything: five birdies, three bogeys and an eagle from 83 yards at the eighth. That hole-out was the swing shot of the round and the reason Campbell sits on top instead of in the crowd behind.

It was not built from the tee box. Campbell ranked 68th of 78 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee for the day, per the PGA TOUR, and still posted 67. Campbell also praised the galleries, saying the fans truly love golf.

The Crowd at 68

The group one back is deep and dangerous. Adam Scott made four birdies in the first six holes, dropped one shot and then strung together 12 straight pars, the kind of veteran control that plays well when the wind is up. Scott told CBS Sports the score felt good in these conditions.

Sahith Theegala also got to 3 under despite a double bogey at the 18th, which was only the ninth hole of the day. Theegala answered with five birdies overall. Japan's Takumi Kanaya gave the home crowd someone to follow at 68, and Nicolai Hojgaard, Rico Hoey, Kevin Roy, William Mouw and Sam Ryder round out the tie for fourth.

Two back at 69 are Alex Noren, Byeong Hun An, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Kevin Yu, Beau Hossler, Alex Smalley and Michael Thorbjornsen.

Big Names, Small Damage

The headliners mostly treaded water. Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa, both fresh off the U.S. Ryder Cup team, each shot even-par 71 and sit four back. Defending champion Echavarria posted a 1-under 70 with four birdies and three bogeys. Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion and the biggest draw for the local crowd, shot 1-over 72, as did Rasmus Hojgaard.

None of that is fatal. With no cut and 500 FedExCup points on offer to the winner, everyone in the field gets four rounds, and a five-shot deficit on a windy Thursday can disappear on a calm Friday. In the FedExCup Fall, where the top 100 at season's end keep full status for 2026, every point matters.

What Friday Brings

The co-leaders are three players without a pile of trophies between them, the group behind is stacked with major winners and Ryder Cup players, and the weather is the wild card. If the wind lies down, expect the scores to drop and the leaderboard to tighten even further. If it stays up, Cauley's tee-to-green control looks like the template.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab) has more details.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 1 recap, Draws and Fades, leaderboard), AP, CBS Sports, Field Level Media, Sky Sports. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.