Weekly PGA Recap: Schenk Erases the Blank

After reaching the 2023 TOUR Championship at the end of his most successful season on the PGA Tour, Adam Schenk fell into oblivion.

He had missed the cut in almost half of his 58 PGA Tour appearances since, including eight of 14 entering the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. He was two weeks away from losing his Tour card and perhaps heading to Q School, which might be worse than oblivion.

And yet, somehow, in maybe the windiest conditions golfers have played in all year, Schenk held it together to shoot a 1-under 71 on Sunday to win for the first time on Tour, by one stroke over Chandler Phillips. Schenk now has playing privileges through the 2027 season.

Deep into football season, it was an important day in golf, not only for Schenk and Phillips, who also secured his PGA Tour card for 2026, but for 10 golfers half a world away in Dubai. While Matt Fitzpatrick won the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, and Rory McIlroy wrapped up his seventh Race to Dubai title, 10 other golfers earned PGA Tour cards for 2026. One of them is even a former LIV player. More on Dubai below.

But first, Schenk.

"Unbelievable. Was really hoping this day would come at some point in my life," Schenk, 33, said after his 243rd start on the PGA Tour. "Never really know if it is. That's what makes the journey so amazing, interesting, and it's a surreal moment when it finally does."

Schenk had two runners-up among seven top-10s across 2022-23, when he reached the TOUR Championship. He earned nearly $5 million that season. Clearly, it appeared a victory was only a matter of time.

If that matter of time hadn't happened in Bermuda, there was one last opportunity next week at The RSM Classic, the final event on the calendar. After that, gulp, no more full playing privileges. At 134th in the FedExCup Standings coming in, Schenk wasn't even close.

Asked Sunday whether he had signed up for Q School in Florida the second week in December with five Tour cards available, Schenk said, "No, but I've been thinking about it a lot."

Now, he doesn't have to.

Of course, while this victory ensures Schenk a livelihood over the next two seasons, it guarantees nothing else. It doesn't mean he will play better than he's had for the past two years -- it's not unheard of to see one-week outliers from guys who are rarely relevant again -- it doesn't mean he will earn a lot of money, it doesn't mean he will play Signature Events.

But he has a chance to. The win moved him to 67th in the standings, and those who finish 51st to 60th after next week get into the first two 2026 Signature Events. So even though the self-admitted teetotaler said he would consume numerous adult beverages on the plane ride home Sunday night, he would be in The RSM Classic field come Thursday.

As he said flatly, "I'm playing."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Chandler Phillips
Phillips picked a good time for his best PGA Tour finish. He was languishing at 139th place in the FedExCup Standings but moved up 47 spots to 92nd, ensuring he will be back with full playing privileges in 2026. Phillips hadn't had so much as a top-25 since June.

Alex Smalley
Smalley was safely through already at No. 81 in points coming in, but his tie for third moved him to No. 71, giving him hope of moving into the top 60 at The RSM Classic. Smalley started the season on fire, with top-25s in six of his first seven starts. But he had only two more before the fall. During the fall season, he now has two top-5s.

Vince Whaley
This was Whaley's second tie for third during the fall. Like Smalley, he was already safe for 2026, but he's now 73rd in points. This was his fourth top-10 in Bermuda, so make a note for next year -- if not, we will remind you.

Frankie Capan III
Capan moved up 18 spots to 124th in points. He will need a win or a runner-up at The RSM Classic to move into the top 100. But this was his best finish on Tour, not including the Zurich team event.

Max McGreevy
McGreevy was Mr. 100 entering the week. He also tied for third to move to 89th in points. He's now good for 2026.

Takumi Kanaya
The former world No. 1 amateur, who has been great in Japan but so-so outside his home country, tied for third in Bermuda -- his best PGA Tour finish. He moved up 21 spots to 99th inside the threshold but hardly safe. He will need one more good week to stay there.

Adam Hadwin
It's been a brutal season for Hadwin, a former PGA Tour winner and two-time Presidents Cup team member once ranked 35th in the world. He entered the week at 147th in points -- dangerously close to losing even conditional status -- but he sparked hope by leading after the first two rounds. He couldn't hang on and wound up T11, which was his second best showing of the season. It moved him only to 138th in points. Without a win at The RSM Classic, who knows how much we will see of Hadwin in 2026. He's 38 years old.

Matt Kuchar
Kuchar tied for 46th to drop from 110th in points to 113th. Barring the unexpected at The RSM, it's looking like he will have to use one of his two career-earnings exemptions to play next season.

Luke Clanton
Clanton, who was so good as a Florida State amateur last year while earning sponsor's invites into PGA Tour events, has been horrible as a pro. He missed the Bermuda cut and now has only two top-25s in 17 starts -- and both of those came last winter. If he weren't exempt by virtue of finishing atop the PGA Tour University standings, the 22-year-old wouldn't have playing privileges for next season.

DP WORLD TOUR

With all the top Euros in the field as the season drew to a close, it came down to a playoff between Fitzpatrick and McIlroy. And, after McIlroy eagled the 72nd hole to deprive Fitzpatrick, everyone thought, ho-hum, another McIlroy win was a fait accompli. But he found the penalty area on his opening drive in the playoff, and Fitzpatrick wrapped up his third DP World Tour Championship.

After a lean year, Fitzpatrick moved back into the top 25 of the OWGR at No. 24.

For McIlroy, his seventh Race to Dubai title moved him past European legend Seve Ballesteros and within one of all-time leader Colin Montgomerie.

The other big race in Dubai was for the 10 PGA Tour spots that go to the highest, non-exempt finishers on the DP World Tour. Those are as follows:

• Marco Penge
• Laurie Canter
• Kristoffer Reitan
• Adrien Saddier
• Alex Noren
• John Parry
• Haotong Li
• Keita Nakajima
• Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
• Jordan Smith

Canter is a former LIV Golf-er but is eligible to play on the PGA Tour. Noren is ranked 17th in the world. Neergaard-Petersen went 5-under over his final five holes to move up into a tie for third in Dubai, along with Canter, Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Aberg. If he had played those holes in 4-under, it wouldn't have been enough to get to the PGA Tour.

Of the 10 DP World Tour players who got dual membership on the PGA Tour in 2025, only two are certain to keep their cards. Those are Rasmus Hojgaard and Sami Valimaki. Thorbjorn Olesen is probably secure at No. 96 heading into The RSM. Jesper Svensson is 111th and has a shot. He tied for 14th in Bermuda to move up 10 spots.

FEDEXCUP STANDINGS

With Schenk, Phillips and Kanaya moving into the top 100, three guys fell out. Those are Max Homa, Matt Wallace and Beau Hossler. Homa wasn't in the Bermuda field and has no worries, as he is already exempt all the way through 2028. Wallace and Hossler both missed the Bermuda cut and now sit 102nd and 103rd, respectively.

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