Keith Mitchell collected eight birdies on Friday and joined Jacob Bridgeman atop the leaderboard at the Baycurrent Classic in Yokohoma, Japan.
Mitchell’s 6-under round of 65 at Yokohama Country Club included a pair of bogeys and moved him to 11-under with Bridgeman, whose second-round 68 included four birdies and one bogey.
The co-leaders are two strokes ahead of Ben Kohles (62 on Friday), Zach Bauchou (64), Max Homa (68) and Mac Meissner (68) at 9-under. Kohles posted the low round of the tournament so far with seven birdies and an eagle at the par-5 sixth hole.
Three players enter the weekend three shots off the lead, with Justin Thomas and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger both carding a 65 on Friday and Australia’s Min Woo Lee delivering his second straight round of 67.
Mitchell enjoys playing in front of the enthusiastic gallery at the PGA Tour’s lone stop in Asia.
“I love it over here. It’s always on my schedule,” he said. “I love Japan. I think just the energy here just helps me play a little bit better for some reason.”
Bridgeman, the first-round leader, was not as sharp after an opening-round 63.
“I didn’t quite have the same game I had yesterday today so it was a little bit more difficult to make as many birdies, but I think I kind of realized that early and was able to play kind of conservative and plot my way around the course,” he said. “Navigated it pretty good, was able to post a good number.”
Homa strung together five consecutive birdies on holes Nos. 2-6 but a double bogey at the par-14 14th hole kept him two shots behind the leaders as he seeks his first PGA Tour win since 2023.
“The par I made on 15 was great. I was a little bit rattled coming off 14,” Homa said. “I hit a horrible tee shot on a pretty easy hole, hit what I thought was a great second shot, got the flyer wrong and just again didn’t panic, hit a good chip up there, made a 10-, 12-footer. Just little things like that, that one stuck out.”
Defending champion Xander Schauffele leads a group of eight players tied for 30th at 3-under after shooting 69 in a roller-coaster round with five birdies and three bogeys.
Top Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama is in the same group as Schauffele following a 1-over 72 that included four bogeys.
Seventy-two players are competing in the no-cut tournament with a prize pool of $8 million, with the winner taking home $1.44 million.
