Sam Burns didn’t pay too much attention to the leader board during his round on Sunday. He started the day seven shots back and teed off 85 minutes before the final group, which featured the world’s top-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler, holding a two-shot lead in the Charles Schwab Challenge.
“I mean, the way the guy is playing right now, who would have ever thought that you’d have a chance seven back?” Burns said.
Well, courtesy of windy conditions that wreaked havoc on everyone throughout the afternoon at Colonial Country Club, Burns put himself in position by throwing up a low number early in the day.
Burns fired a 5-under 65 on Sunday, getting to 9-under for the tournament. Burns felt that 10-under would be the number, but 9-under proved to be enough for a playoff with Scheffler, who shot a 2-over 72 in his first birdie-less round of the season.
Burns closed it out on the first playoff hole, draining a 38-footer from off the back of the green on No. 18. Scheffler had a chance to extend the playoff but missed his 36-foot birdie putt. Burns’ birdie was just the 11th carded at No. 18 on the day.
“Pretty straightforward putt. A little downhill, breaking left to right the whole way, played it about a foot out and just tried to match the speed up,” Burns said. “I honestly thought it was going to be a little bit short when I hit it, and that’s kind of why my reaction was what it was. I thought I left it short.
“To see that go in, that was obviously really cool.”
Burns matched the greatest come-from-behind victory in tournament history. Nick Price rallied from seven shots back and defeated Scott Simpson in a playoff in 1994.
For Scheffler, it was a disappointing finish after he had just one bogey the first three days.
“I gave myself a lot of looks,” he said. “I just didn’t have it today. Props to Sam; he played great.”
Burns opened his final round birdie-birdie on Nos. 1 and 2. He then made just one of six birdies at the par-3 fourth. He bogeyed No. 5 before rattling off three more birdies in the next four holes to shoot a 5-under 30 on the front nine.
On the back nine, Burns had one birdie on No. 11 and one bogey on No. 12. He just missed a birdie putt on No. 18 that would have taken him to 10-under for the tournament.
“To be honest, I thought I did make it,” Burns said. “I hit a really good putt and just missed barely low.”
When Burns walked off the green, it didn’t seem like 9-under would stand. For much of the afternoon, there was a five-way tie at 10-under.
Heck, Davis Riley briefly took the lead at 11-under. He made three straight birdies on Nos. 9, 10 and 11, but faded with a bogey on No. 13 and a double-bogey on No. 14.
Brendon Todd, who finished third and one shot off the playoff, made two bogeys and no birdies on the back nine. Scott Stallings played himself out of contention with three bogeys over his last seven holes.
“It’s tough because I feel like if I had just a couple things go my way today, I would have been the clear winner,” Todd said. “It’s definitely disappointing.”
Harold Varner III had the biggest implosion, going from tied for first to 27th. Varner had a triple-bogey on No. 12, four-putting from within 20 feet. He then hit a ball in the water on the par-3 13th and carded a double-bogey. Varner had a 10-over 45 on the back nine.
Scheffler, meanwhile, couldn’t get any putt to drop. He missed a 14-footer for birdie on No. 5; he missed a 19-footer for birdie on No. 10; he missed a 13-footer for birdie on No. 13; and the list goes on.
It ended in sudden fashion when Burns delivered the long putt off the green on No. 18.
“I kind of joked with him at the end, he ruined all the fun making a 40-footer,” Scheffler said. “It was definitely good to see him win. He’s obviously a great player and has got a bright future ahead.”
Scheffler would’ve been the feel-good story as the DFW local, of course, but Burns has plenty of ties to the Colonial. He recalled coming to the 2011 tournament as a teenager and watching fellow Louisiana native David Toms win it.
Burns later made his Colonial debut in 2018 as a champions’ choice and is now the eighth champions’ choice to win the tournament.
“David Toms has been a mentor of mine, great friend of my family and I remember being there whenever he holed a wedge on 11,” said Burns, who is ranked No. 10 in the world and now has three PGA Tour victories this season.
“It was funny, I actually saw his wedge in there in the dining room. That was really fun, and memories that I still think about. It’s really cool, and I can’t wait to give him a text and have my name up there next to his.”
