Adam Schenk’s ‘life-changing’ year ends with T9 at TOUR Championship

ATLANTA – Adam Schenk arrives at the first tee to muted applause. The crowd is several rows deep, but they are waiting to catch a glimpse of Schenk’s playing partner. Phones are out; cameras at the ready. Whispers are percolating through the eager gallery.

“Is Rory close?” a young fan asks a volunteer.

“Can you see him?” another exclaims to his dad.

McIlroy, the three-time FedExCup champion, emerges moments later to a raucous ovation.

As they tee off in Sunday’s final round at THE TOUR Championship, it’s the same drill. Schenk hits a nice drive, which just trickles into the fringe. He gets a few claps. Rory goes next and receives roars despite his ball soaring into the trees.

Schenk has no issue with it. He’s used to operating in relative anonymity.

“I could have finished second this week and nobody would still know who I am,” he says. “I kind of like it that way.”

A humble and jovial Midwesterner, Schenk, 31, is happy to let his play do the talking. He admits for the first few years of his career, it hasn’t said much. He has reliably kept his TOUR card but never finished better than 71st in the FedExCup. Comfortably in the TOUR’s middle class.

Until now.

Schenk’s family and friends are standing left of the par-4 third hole at East Lake Golf Club. They’ve come from his home state of Indiana to watch Schenk close out his season. One is Rob Bradley, Schenk’s college coach from Purdue, who has remained his instructor on TOUR. In a hushed tone, Bradley describes Schenk.

“He’s just a great, fun, normal guy. He comes back to Purdue often. We have a blast going to football and basketball games. He practices with the golf team…”

Bradley’s voice trails off. Schenk is about to hit.

After a 45-foot birdie putt on the first hole, Schenk is 1 under for his day, 10 under for the tournament, and in prime position in the middle of the third fairway. His wedge from 137 yards lands three feet right of the hole, hops left and falls into the cup for eagle.

The crowd erupts, including Bradley and the rest of Schenk’s family. Schenk’s wife, Kourtney, finds Bradley and gives him a high-five.

“That was sick!” Bradley exclaims.

Schenk is feeling it. He birdies the fourth and the sixth holes, too, briefly jumping into third place alone at 14 under, still well back of Viktor Hovland’s growing lead.

Schenk has felt this way for much of the year – comfortable and confident.

It started at the Valspar Championship back in March. It had been a ho-hum season until that point. But Schenk opened with rounds of 66-69-70 at the Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course. For just the second time in his PGA TOUR career he held the 54-hole lead. Difficult scoring conditions had defined the week and his final-round 70 felt like it would be enough for much of the afternoon. Then Taylor Moore birdied three of his final seven holes to post 10 under. A bogey on the 72nd hole had dropped Schenk to 9 under.

Every round is a learning experience, he says. He learned a lot about himself there, even in defeat. He would learn more at the Charles Schwab Challenge, losing in a playoff to Emiliano Grillo. The elusive first win would have to wait, but Schenk had arrived. It was the same swing and mindset he always had, just with a bit more belief to fully activate its potential.

“Those two runners-up, he just gained so much confidence from that, knowing that he can play with these guys,” Bradley says.

The performance moved him to 29th in the FedExCup. He added a T7 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday the next week, a solo seventh at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and a T4 at the John Deere Classic. Then he tied for sixth at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, which all but locked his spot in the top 30. Finally, his first trip to East Lake.

Schenk has been around long enough to develop a bit of emotionless realism.

“I wish I could say I show up every week and think I can win,” he says, “but I love (East Lake) and I thought I could come out and compete.”

The driver has felt squirrely for months, but at the TOUR Championship he carded a 7-under 63 and was second in Strokes Gained: Tee To Green. Having started the week 2 under the FedExCup’s Starting Strokes format, eight back, he was now just a shot out of the lead.

The names surrounding him at East Lake: Hovland, Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy. FedExCup champions. Major winners. Ryder Cup participants. And Schenk.

Having never considered himself one of the better players on TOUR, he realized after the first round that the results were telling a different story. The record books don’t know any better. And he could etch his name alongside quite a group of players.

A second-round 70 left him six shots back, but there was still plenty to play for— $75 million in prize money. Schenk made just under $5 million in his first five years on TOUR. He had nearly eclipsed that mark in this season, even before arriving at East Lake. With a good week at THE TOUR Championship, he could easily double his career earnings from just this season.

The money isn’t something he spends much time thinking about. Bradley describes Schenk as a “homebody.” The family still lives in Vincennes, Indiana, a town of 16,000. But he’s also a grinder. He’s played at least 32 events in his last three seasons. That makes it hard to balance family life with golf, especially with a newborn son, A.J., who arrived earlier this year. A little extra cash would allow the growing traveling circus to stay on the road with him.

“That was one of the things going into this week, like hey, we can start doing it now where we travel with everybody more,” Bradley says. “Having his family out here every week is really good for him. I think that’s a really big deal.”

Schenk carded back-to-back 69s on the weekend. After his hot start on Sunday, he made a pair of double bogeys on the back nine. The wayward drives showed up on 14 and 17 to derail his push for a top-3 finish. He made par on 18 to finish 10 under, in a five-way tie for ninth.

With it came a $980,000 bonus. That brought his total up to $5.8 million for the year.

Schenk has only been to Augusta National once. It was as a fan. He can’t recall the year, likely because he would rather forget it. He was sick, and he lost his wallet while on the grounds.

“So I had a terrible time,” he says.

He’s looking forward to going back in 2024, this time as a player. It’s one of numerous perks that come with making the TOUR Championship. He earned a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR, will play in all eight Signature Events in 2024 and locked up his spot in all of the majors.

He can craft his schedule to his liking. He knows the events he is playing and the ones he is not. With A.J. in his life now, that’s meaningful.

It might also raise his profile. Schenk signed autographs for fans as he spoke to the media outside the East Lake clubhouse. Young kids shouted requests for his glove, shoes, 7-iron and pitching wedge. He smiled, politely declining the requests, and kept working his way through the long line of eager onlookers.

Schenk tied for ninth, about 60 minutes and exactly 17 shots behind Hovland. And he was wrong. Plenty in Atlanta knew who he was.

“It’s a life-changing year,” he says.