Sam Burns sold out a big birdie putt to beat Scottie Scheffler in a playoff on Sunday afternoon. (Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
Sam Burns had to sit in the clubhouse and wait several hours on Sunday afternoon.
However, when he finally returned to the field, it was as if he had never left.
Burns, after posting a 5 under 65 in the early afternoon, sank a putt of wild birds from the green to overtake first-placed Scottie Scheffler and win the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Burns has now won the Tour three times this season and equaled the biggest comeback in Colonial Country Club history after starting the day seven shots back.
“Just with today’s conditions with how hard it was to play, I was very proud of the way we stayed,” Burns told CBS. “I played a good round of golf today … I’m proud of how we ended up, and then making that putt is the icing on the cake.”
Burns opened his day with three birds in four holes, and made six of them on his new front to jump to the standings and in the fight. Then, he even went back nine to reach 9 under the week, which quickly became a part of the lead after Scheffler’s two-shot lead disappeared.
Burns, however, could only look at the clubhouse as Scheffler tried to make one last bird to win the event directly. Scheffler, after playing five games in a row, landed his approach to the greenside bunker at No. 18. A clutch up and down from there, however, saved Scheffler’s pair and forced the playoffs, which began nearly two. hours after Burns had finished his. round.
So the two returned on the 18th, where Scheffler landed his approach on the far side of the green and Burns barely rolled his back. While his ball was 38 feet from the cup, Burns rolled his bird putt perfectly to claim victory.
Burns has three Tour titles this season after winning the Sanderson Farms Championship in October and the Valspar Championship in March. He has nine finals in the top 25, and started the week in 10th place in the world.
Scheffler finished with a 2 out of 72 in his runner-up final. The 25-year-old has won the Tour four times so far this season after securing his inaugural victory earlier this year. He has 12 finishes in the top 10 and overtook Jon Rahm to reach No. 1 in the official world golf rankings. He has maintained a lead or co-leader after three rounds four times now, but has only turned one into a victory.
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Brendon Todd finished third at 8 less during the week. Only four golfers finished 2-less or better in what was an incredibly hot and windy day in Forth Worth.
“We’re probably best friends,” Burns said of Scheffler. “But at the same time I can assure you that he wanted to beat me more than anyone and I wanted him more than anyone, and in the end it happened to us that we were both.
“Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either, Looks like BT aint for me either.