Burns hangs on for first PGA win

Sam Burns figured all those close calls eventually would teach him how to win on the PGA Tour.

Twice this season, he had the 54-hole lead and failed to convert. Six other times, he was atop the leaderboard at the end of a round, just never the round that mattered.

That changed, finally, at the Valspar Championship in Florida. And the lesson was not what he expected.

“I always felt that you had to play perfect golf to win,” Burns said after a threeunder-par 68 for a three-shot win. “I always felt that you had to play your absolute best on a Sunday to win. And after those experiences I realized that it’s not the case. I was trying to do too much.”

He did just enough, and got help from Keegan Bradley. Tied for the lead with six holes left, Bradley hit eightiron short and into the water for a double bogey on the par-three 13th hole, and Burns put him away with two big birdies and a celebration a long time coming.

Burns was all smiles coming up the 18th hole with a four-shot lead, and he was fighting back tears when his family joined him in victory.

“I’ve worked so hard for this moment,” Burns said. “They’ve all sacrificed so much.”

The win all but assures the 24-year-old from Louisiana a spot in the U.S. Open, along with his first trip to the Masters next spring.

Bradley and Burns were tied through 36 holes and 54 holes, and they stayed that way through 12 holes on Sunday at Innisbrook. That changed with one swing. Bradley came up short on the 13th and went into the water, leading to double bogey. Burns saved par for a two-shot lead.

Valencia High grad Max Homa briefly tied for the lead with a birdie on the parfive opening hole. He didn’t make another birdie the rest of the day. He shot 74.

Elsewhere

Former Masters champion Mike Weir won his first PGA Tour Champions event when he held steady with pars down the stretch for a four-under 68 and let John Daly make the last mistake in the Insperity Invitational in Texas, which was reduced to 36 holes because of rain. They were tied going down the stretch when Daly hit into the water on 18 and made double bogey . ... Hyo Joo Kim shot a final-round, eight-under 64 and watched as Hannah Green bogeyed her final two holes to hand Kim a one-stroke win in the LPGA’s HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.