Disastrous Thursday ends in WD for Adam Schenk at John Deere Classic

Adam Schenk’s time at the 2022 John Deere Classic was short-lived after an opening 77 was promptly followed by a WD.

The John Deere Classic has been a happy place for 30-year-old Adam Schenk over the past couple of years.

It was just last year that Schenk finished 4th at the John Deere Classic following four consecutive rounds under par.

He would go on to finish three shots back of eventual winner Lucas Glover in the John Deere Classic’s return to the PGA schedule following on from the event’s cancellation during the pandemic ridden 2020 season.

Prior to that, the Purdue University alum had finished 6th here back in 2019, this time five shots back of 2019 winner Dylan Frittelli.

Schenk had played 18 events in 2021 before recording his first top 10 finish which came at the aforementioned John Deere Classic. This year, while he has had a mixed bag of results so far, he has already posted two top 10s.

The first came at the Corales Puntacana Championship back in March where he was 7th, he would go on to follow up that strong showing with another at the Wells Fargo Championship (9th) back in May.

Both performances have led to Schenk being comfortably inside of the top 125 in the current FedEx Cup standings so far this season.

He currently sits in 78th place and will be hopeful of securing his spot in the first playoff event at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August.

With how Schenk’s year has gone so far and how he has fared at the John Deere Classic over the past couple of years, it is understandable that would have had reasonably high expectations of himself coming into this week.

Disastrous Thursday ends in WD for Adam Schenk at John Deere Classic

Those dreams were dashed quickly for Schenk this year following a disastrous opening round which included six bogeys and a double en route to an opening 77.

The 30-year-old, who made his PGA Tour debut back in 2018, started his round well enough with a birdie on the par 3, 12th. But for a player who ranks 32nd in birdies made this season, birdies were a rare commodity on Thursday.

Schenk was unable to build any kind of momentum on his opening nine as he followed the birdie on the 12th with three consecutive dropped shots across his next three holes before making the turn in 38.

He would go on to add a second and final birdie of the day on the par 5, 2nd hole before coming completely undone with three bogeys and a costly double en route to back nine 39 to end his day.

Schenk would withdraw from this year’s John Deere Classic soon after the completion of his miserable round.

It was a nightmarish day at a place that had been so kind to him in recent years, and one that Schenk will surely want to forget in a hurry as looks to make a push towards this year’s FedEx Cup playoffs.