PGA Tour player loses cup because ball hits flag handle

Valspar Championship 2023 has just closed the curtain on the morning of March 20, Hanoi time). Schenk finished second, and the championship belonged to Taylor Moore - a golfer who suffered a collapsed lung in 2019. Moore set a -10 milestone, and Schenk finished -9.

This is a breakthrough result for Moore in the US first-class golf arena, but "pain" for Schenk. The Valspar Championship should have been demarcated by a side hole between Moore and Schenk.

The finish line, Schenk, thanks to the -8 lead after three rounds, started the last turn from hole 1 and two holes behind Moore. Moore hit -6 at the start, up -10 thanks to birdie on hole 16. The other two holes, he kept par. And with the result of -10, Moore went to the practice area to keep his body warm because of the possibility of having to fight the extra hole.

And Schenk is up -10 at hole 12, from a putt 21.6 meters from target.

After that, Schenk held par for the next five holes. On the par4 18 hole, Schenk needed a birdie to win the cup for the first time on the PGA Tour. However, he missed on the shot, sending the ball close to the tree to the left of the fairway. That position couldn't swing the forehand, so Schenk flipped the wedge upside down to hit the counter.

The second shot dragged the ball 85 yards but into the rough on the right side of the fairway.

Schenk hit the green on the third shot, but the ball hadn't gone over the slope, so it rolled close to the edge of the green, about 14 meters from the target. If he finishes the hole from there, he will also -10 and will compete for the cup duel with Moore. But the attempt to finish failed, when the ball rolled to the hole, hit the flagpole and then flew out, nearly 1.5 meters away.

Closing the 18th hole with a second slip, Schenk finished second (-9), receiving $ 882,900 while Moore took the championship with $ 1,458 million.

"It's sad with the result. I hit the last hole badly but then got my chance on the second shot and was unlucky on the third. The first put I still had hope, but I didn't expect to hit the flagpole. ", Schenk said after the tournament.

This last hole stumbling keeps Schenk still without a cup on the PGA Tour through 165 events, even though 10 of them finished in the top 10.

Schenk entered the Valspar Championship at 143rd in the world and has won 10 consecutive tournaments on the PGA Tour to help his wife Kourtney take care of their first child.

Going into the event three rounds, he kept the top of the table, at -8. With the positive news from Schenk, Kourtney, eight months pregnant, caught a flight from Indiana at 2 a.m. to make it to Cooperhead par71 in Florida to cheer her husband on his final round.

Before entering the battle, Schenk still had enough time to prepare breakfast for his wife in the hotel.