JOURNAL STAFF

Shreveport native and Calvary Baptist graduate Sam Burns flirted with a top 10 finish Sunday at the PGA Championship in Tulsa, and despite bogeys on the final two holes posted his best-yet finish in a major championship.

His closing 72 left him six shots back of the top score, shared by playoff winner Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris. Burns, winner of two PGA Tour events already this season, shot 71-67-71-72 – 281 and collected a $191,250 paycheck.

Burns made four birdies Sunday, but six bogeys – four on the front nine. He rallied with birdies on the par-5 13th hole and the par-4 15th to move into a tie for eighth place at 1-under, but bogeyed 17 (the second-easiest hole Sunday) and 18 (the toughest hole in the final round).

The finish moved him to sixth place on the Tour’s money list for the season, with $4.6 million.

The 25-year-old former LSU All-American stands third on the Tour’s Fed Ex Cup standings, with his 1,601 points in 15 events trailing only Masters’ champ Scottie Scheffler (2,842) and Players’ champ Cameron Smith (1,603), and just ahead of Thomas (1,568) in fourth place.