Media Center Interviews

March 28, 2023

Pre-Tournament Interview with Adam Schenk

Q. Adam Schenk, teeing it up once again at the Valero Texas Open. Adam, before we get to the event in Texas, we’ve got to go back to a few weeks ago (inaudible) Valspar Championship in Tampa, Florida. I know it was a wild week for you and you had the opportunity to come away with the win, but how have you processed everything that happened that week?

ADAM SCHENK: It was a lot to take in. I mean, it happened really fast. The Sunday with Jordan felt like two hours in and we were on hole 16 already, it went fast. It was a lot of fun. Obviously the outcome, wish it could have been a little different, but all in all still a great week. I could have made six or seven of the last, was fortunate just to make five.

Q. When you think about it as a whole, obviously not the outcome that you were hoping for, but what are the positives that you take away and lessons learned?

ADAM SCHENK: Yeah, lots of positives. I can compete, I can come close to winning, I would assume I can make up a shot or two with whichever part of the game it might be. Should have the confidence that I can win now. Been close several times, but putting yourself up there, the more times that I do that, the more comfortable I'll get. Having a chance to win on Sunday is so much fun and just can't wait to get back in the situation.

Q. You have an opportunity here this week to get back to that situation. This is the fifth time that you're going to be playing the Valero Texas Open. What are your impressions of the course? Have you got to get out there and see how it's going to play in 2023?

ADAM SCHENK: I have not. I'm assuming it's the same as last year, but this year -- today at least it's so windy, we were going to play nine holes, but this might be the first time it's too windy to play a practice round. I don't think we would be playing golf today if the tournament was going on. I'll find out tomorrow in the pro-am.

Q. A lot on the line this week, of course a win, but also an invitation to the Masters tournament, the last opportunity to get to Augusta. How do you balance that on your mind versus also just focusing on the tournament at hand?

ADAM SCHENK: Yeah, I mean, all the little steps David and I will do will just be to put us in a situation to have a chance on Sunday. It's essentially just a big Monday qualifier for the Masters, so if you win, you get in, which would be awesome. I know Corey Conners did it a couple years ago and maybe someone else has done it as well. If that happens, great. If not, it would still be another fun week just to put myself in contention, because I do really enjoy the course, it should be a good course for me. Just looking forward to doing that.

Q. Speaking of putting yourself in contention, the opportunities to get yourself into contention mean more and more especially as we look to 2024. The PGA TOUR sent a memo to players regarding some eligibility changes. None of that was necessarily a surprise, but when you look at the concept as a whole and the changes moving forward, what are your main takeaways?

ADAM SCHENK: It's a good time to play really well, I guess. That's fortunate for me, if I can keep it going, it's great. I mean, the top 50's huge, top 70 obviously gets you in the Playoffs, so there's different steps.

Then it gives you a chance to, if you're not inside the Top-125 for the fall, to play your way in because the Top-125 still means a great deal. But if you can get inside the top 50, that's huge.

The changes are great mostly, I think. I think they might tweak it a little bit going forward, but it's something that they had to do obviously to compete and get the best players to get them to play more often. So I think everyone understand the changes.

Q. In terms of tweaking things moving forward, what do you think those might be?

ADAM SCHENK: I thought like Bay Hill, Memorial and Genesis were going to be 120 fields, they're not. Maybe they do like, for example, Travelers this year is 144. I think it would be cool to see a 144 elevated field just so everybody gets to play in one maybe. You saw how well Bay Hill, Genesis, Riv, or Waste Management, those went, so I think they will still be great with 78-man fields, whatever they'll be.

But I think eventually you'll have somebody that runs away with one. Since there's less players potentially with a 78-man field, somebody's going to win by four or five on Sunday and it's going to be a little bit of a sleeper. That can happen with a 144 field as well, or 120 field.

I like the changes overall. I've never been a player that's gotten into like super big events like the WGCs or any of those, so it's more in a sense not changing a ton for me. And I'm getting into the elevated fields this year, so it's a good time to play well. If this is what's best, they've done models and everything, so you have to trust the leadership of the Tour.

Q. You played here last year. What do you remember about the course?

ADAM SCHENK: It's kind of my fifth year, I've been here five times, I'm not exactly sure. I feel like it's been the same every time. I feel like the elements and the wind, it can be really cold here in the morning, last year it was freezing, and then it gets up to like 80 in the afternoons. Like generally the course is determined by the wind. If it's not super windy and gets a little soft, they get some rain like we had the one year that I played well, the scoresvare going to be lower. If it's blowing like this, it gets really firm, the scores can get pretty high.

Q. What's your main motivation for being here this week? Obviously Masters gets you in, but what's kind of your main motivation for playing this week here?

ADAM SCHENK: Just teeing it up, obviously trying to win, but just trying to get better. I like the course. We can see how the improvements that David and I have made over the last several months where we’ve peaked a little bit and everything came together Valspar week. Still several things I learned from there, several things I'm working on in my golf game and it's just a new week to test everything out.