Valspar Championship: Taylor Moore gets his first career win after Adam Schenck bobbles on the last hole
All Adam Schenk needed on the 18th was a parabola.
A bird would certainly have won it, but a simple par would have at least forced a playoff at Innisbrook Resort on Sunday afternoon.
But Schenk, who was in the middle of a 10-week marathon, collapsed.
Schenk sent his drive left into the crowd and in front of a tree in the Tampa, Florida area, then had to settle for bogey—which handed the win to Taylor Moore.
Moore scored a 4-under 67 in a near-perfect Sunday, which sent the club a share of the lead before Schenck and Jordan Spieth’s final set. He made four birdies in his final ten holes of the day, eventually saving a par to reach 10-under the week and eventually win.
The victory was the first of Moore’s career.
Schenk engine at No. 18 landed to the right of a tree to the left of the fairway, forcing him to strike while swinging his left hand.
His exit had already crossed the corridor and fell into the rut on the other side.
But his approach shot ended up rolling to the far side of the green, ending his hopes of an up-and-down save.
Schenck has been playing non-stop this spring. Valspar marked his 10th straight start on tour dating back to the Sony Open in Hawaii. While he made the cut in eight of these, his best finish was a T20 run at the Farmers Insurance Open in January. He missed the Players Championship last week as well.
Schenk is playing as much as he can now so he can take a vacation this summer. His wife is due to give birth to their first child in six weeks.
“So [I’m just] “I’m trying to extract as many points as possible to take as much time off as I can and spend time with him and my wife, which will be very special,” he said after Friday’s round.
Schenck didn’t seem nervous heading into Sunday’s run at all.
He held a one-shot lead over Jordan Spieth and Tommy Fleetwood to start the day, and his first Tour win was within reach.
“If I win, great. If I don’t win, that’s fine, too,” he said calmly Saturday night. “I mean, obviously I want to be a PGA Tour winner. I played here for six years, not that I did everything except win, but I did, you know, a lot, and I played for many years. Winning would be all and wonderful.”
He almost pulled it off.
Schenck had a 1-under 70 on Sunday, and finished alone in second place at 9-under for the week. Spieth had several chances of his own to take the win as well, but surprisingly no. 16 nor. 18th, and missed a hard-hitting birdie on the 17th.
On the other hand, Moore played almost perfect all day. He hit back-to-back birdies at No. 1. 15 nor. 16, then par saves on 17 to keep himself in position at the top. He was the only one of the last 11 groups of the day to score a run in the 60s.
Moore entered the week after finishing T35 last week in the Players Championship. His victory marked his only top-ten finish in 15 events of the season, his second full year on the Tour.
This post will be updated with more information soon.
