On His 243rd PGA Tour Start, Adam Schenk Saves Card After Maiden Win At Butterfield Bermuda Championship

Adam Schenk overcame blustery conditions to win the Butterfield Bermuda Championship by one at Port Royal.

In doing so, he not only claimed his maiden PGA Tour title at the 243rd time of asking, but also secured his card for the next two years.

That’s significant because Schenk’s immediate PGA Tour future was by no means certain at the start of the week.

The American began the event 134th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, needing to finish the season, which concludes with the RSM Classic, inside the top 125 to confirm conditional status or the top 100 for full playing privileges.

However, rounds of 69, 65 and 67, the latter of which he putted one-handed at times, ensured he headed to the final round joint top of the leaderboard with Braden Thornberry.

After the third round, Schenk expressed a desire to go blemish-free on Sunday, saying: “I wish I really could have done this earlier in the season because I wouldn't be in this position, but here we are.

“And if I can make some putts tomorrow, it's hard to do in the wind, maybe play another bogey-free round, that'd be awesome, that puts me in a really good spot.”

It didn’t quite work out that way, although it took until the 15th hole for Schenk to make his first bogey in 36 holes in what was an assured performance overall.

For most of Sunday, Schenk was a model of consistency, with four pars to begin proceedings before a birdie on the par-4 fifth to move him to 13-under for the tournament.

Despite blustery conditions – something that didn’t help Thornberry as he slumped to a nine-over over 80 to place T22 - Schenk proceeded to make par in his next nine holes before that bogey at the 15^th.

Would the setback, which gave the chasing pack, including the likes of Chandler Phillips, Max McGreevy and playing partner Takumi Kanaya hope, knock him off his stride?

The answer was “no,” with Schenk getting back on track at the 16th with his 14th par of the day to take a one-shot lead over Phillips, who was heading to the 18th.

Despite a maiden PGA Tour win and his card at stake, Schenk didn’t seem ready to buckle after sending a beautiful approach on the 17th to within four feet.

He missed his birdie putt, but still led by one with a hole to play after Kanaya drew level with Phillips to leave the door ajar for a maiden PGA Tour victory of his own.

The 18th was not plain sailing for either player, with Kanaya's approach finding a greenside bunker and Schenk's going over the green.

Schenk's first putt was good, getting him to three feet before Kanaya found similar territory from the bunker.

Schenk was first to go with a putt for par that was undoubtedly missable - particularly given the circumstances - but he made no mistake to wrap up the title and his PGA Tour future, before Kanaya made bogey to finish T3.