Adam Schenk finished in second at the Valspar Championship on Sunday after he bogeyed the final hole, but fans appreciated the approach he took after catching an unfortunate break.
Schenk walked up to the 18th tee at 10-under for the tournament, which was tied with clubhouse leader Taylor Moore. He hit an errant drive and ended up in just about as bad of a spot as possible. Schenk’s reaction when he walked up to the shot said it all.
Adam Schenk is tied for the lead on the 72nd hole.
Here's where his drive ended up. pic.twitter.com/DeXtMVtkTY
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 19, 2023
With his ball right against the base of a tree, Schenk’s options were to take an unplayable with a 1-stroke penalty or flip his club over and attempt a left-handed shot. He chose the latter. Even hitting left-handed, Schenk got plenty of club on the ball and actually punched it through the fairway and into the rough on the other side. You can see the impressive shot below:
Adam Schenk takes a left-handed approach and finds the right rough. pic.twitter.com/aAJyFM3Y3N
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 19, 2023
Schenk hit his third shot onto the green but had more than 40 feet left for par. He needed to drain the long putt to force a playoff, but he bogeyed to finish in second at 9-under.
The reason Schenk’s decision was so impressive is that it could have potentially cost him a ton of money. If the left-handed shot went haywire, he might have ended up with worse than a bogey. Tommy Fleetwood and Jordan Spieth finished tied for third at 8-under, so Schenk could have dropped into a three-way tie for second or even as low as fifth. The difference between second place and fifth place at the Valspar was more than $500,000.
Schenk went for the win in a situation where some others would have taken the unplayable and made sure they finished second.
