Burns comes back from 7 down
Sam Burns made a 38-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole at Colonial, which came just more than two hours after he had finished his round, to beat top-ranked Scottie Scheffler on Sunday.
After finishing his 5-under 65 to get to 9 under, Burns was done in the clubhouse when, at one point, Scheffler was among five players tied at 10 under.
The gusty wind and a strange sequence changed all that. And Scheffler needed three clutch putts for a 72 just to get into the playoff matching 25-year-old standouts and close friends.
Burns’ seven-stroke comeback matched Nick Price in 1994 for the biggest in a final round to win Colonial. The playoff began with both driving into the fairway at No. 18, the same hole where just moments earlier Scheffler made a 6-foot par after his approach on his 72nd hole went into the bunker.
Scheffler got on the green with his approach in the playoff, but was 36 feet away. Burns hit just off the back edge of the green and used his putter, with the ball curling the last few feet into the cup. Scheffler made a good run with his putt, but didn’t have a birdie all day.
It was the third win this season for Burns, and his fourth overall in his last 27 starts. The world’s 10th-ranked player won at Valspar for the second time in March.
The Colonial win was worth $1,512,000, along with a plaid jacket and a custom-built Schwab Firebird Trans Am.
Masters champion Scheffler was going for his fifth victory in his last 10 starts. He missed becoming the first player since Tom Watson in 1980 with five wins in a PGA Tour season before the start of June.
Burns was 5 under on the front nine to make his turn at 9 under. He had birdie at No. 11, but then had bogey after a wayward tee shot and a penalty stroke. He parred out and then waited.
LEAFS’ SPEZZA RETIRES
Veteran Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza announced his retirement Sunday after a 19-season NHL career.
The 38-year-old is moving into the Maple Leafs’ front office as a special assistant to GM Kyle Dubas.
Taken second overall by Ottawa in the 2001 draft, Spezza spent his first 11 seasons with the Ottawa Senators before joining the Dallas Stars in 2014 and Toronto in 2019.
Spezza finished with 995 points (363 goals and 632 assists) in 1,248 regular-season NHL games, with another 76 points (28 goals and 48 assists) in 97 playoff games.