Adam Schenk needed a draw in the 18th over.
Sure, a birdie would have clinched the win for him, but a simple par would have at least forced a playoff on Sunday afternoon at Innisbrook Resort.
But Schenk, who is in the middle of a 10-week marathon run, begs to differ.
Schenck left his drive into the crowd and right over a tree at the Tampa, Florida, area course, and then had to settle with a bogey – handing the victory to Taylor Moore.
Moore posted a nearly perfect Sunday 4-under 67, which sent him into the clubhouse with a share of the lead ahead of the final group of Schenck and Jordan Spieth. He carded four birdies in his final 10 holes of the day, and saved par at the end to finish 10-under on the week and eventually win.
The win marked Moore’s first career win.
Schenck’s drive on the 18th hit a tree on the left of the fairway, forcing him to punch out while swinging left.
His out actually crossed through the fairway and landed in the rough on the other side.
But his approach shot ended up rolling into the far side of the green, ending his hopes of saving an over and under par.
Schenk has been playing consistently this spring. The Valspar Championships marked his 10th consecutive start on tour with the Sony Open in Hawaii. While he has made the cut in eight of them, his best performance was only a T20 run at the Farmers Insurance Open in January. He also missed the cut at The Players Championship last week.
Schenk is only playing as much as he can at this point in time so he can take time off this summer. His wife’s first child is due in about six weeks.
“Therefore [I’m just] Trying to take as much time out as I can and spend time with him and my wife, which will be very special,” he said after Friday’s round.
Schenk didn’t look nervous in Sunday’s round either.
He held a one-shot lead over Jordan Spieth and Tommy Fleetwood to start the day and his first Tour victory was within reach.
“If I win, great. If I don’t win, that’s fine too,” he said calmly on Saturday night. “I mean, obviously I want to be a PGA Tour winner. I played here for six years, not that I’ve done everything but win, but I’ve, you know, played a lot of years. Winning would be all the more wonderful.
He almost pulled it off.
Schenk carded a 1-under 70 on Sunday and finished the week at 9-under for second place. Spieth also had several chances to win, but he bogeyed No. 16 and No. 18 and missed a spectacular birdie putt on the 17th.
Moore, on the other hand, played almost perfectly throughout the day. He carded back-to-back birdies on No. 15 and No. 16 and then made par on the 17th to stay in the lead. He was the only one in the day’s final 11 groups to post a round in the 60s.
Moore entered the week after finishing T35 last week at the Players Championship. His victory marked his only top-10 finish in 15 events this season, his second full year on Tour.
This post will be updated soon with more information.