By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
DUBLIN, Ohio — Sam Burns knocked on the door again challenging for his sixth PGA Tour win, and first since 2023, but had to overcome knocking into the same tree twice to seriously contend Sunday at The Memorial.
Burns survived a bizarre third-round double bogey Sunday morning on the par-5 11th hole, when both his second and third shots struck a tree. He recovered to surge into a tie for the lead Sunday afternoon on the final round’s back nine, but more trouble, leading to a bogey on the 17th hole, and narrowly-missed putts on the final two holes relegated him to a tie for fourth.
The 29-year-old Shreveport native, a Calvary Baptist graduate, carded a 10-under 278 (68-69-71-69), with all four rounds under par on Jack Nicklaus’ demanding Muirfield Village course.
He collected his biggest paycheck of the 2026 season, $920,000, running his season’s total winnings to $3.4 million and his career earnings over $38 million since he turned pro in 2017.
J.T. Poston won the playoff on the second extra hole over Ryan Gerard to collect The Memorial’s $4 million top prize after both shot 12-under in 72 holes.
Burns notched his third top 10 finish of the season and sixth top 25 in 13 starts, heading into the Canadian Open starting Thursday at TPC Toronto. Last year, the Choudrant resident was the victim of a late rally by Ryan Fox and lost in a playoff in the event.
Storms Saturday stopped Burns and the rest of the field, when he had birdied two of the first five holes to move into third place. When play resumed early Sunday, he bogeyed the ninth hole, then a drive into trouble on the right side of the 11th led to disaster. His second shot squared up a tree and bounded backwards near the same spot. The next shot glanced off the same tree and angled across the fairway into a creek. After a penalty drop, Burns hit the green in regulation and two-putted from 27 feet for the potentially fatal double bogey 7.
“I guess I need to go cut that tree down. It wasn’t very good to me,” said Burns, chuckling a bit, to media late Sunday afternoon.
He posted a pair of birdies to wrap up the third round. Three front-side birdies, two on the first three holes, completed his comeback and he was tied for the top spot for much of the back nine.
In a five-way jam atop the leaderboard teeing off the penultimate hole, Burns was only a few yards to the left of the fairway, but had a waist-high lie with an awkward stance. His 6-iron effort on his second shot led to a precarious lie on the third and his blind pitch to a green 12 feet above his ball wasn’t near the flag.
His long par putt brushed the side of the cup and he fell out of the first-place tie.
“Unfortunate there on 17,” he said. “Of course I should have hit a better tee shot, but I thought I’d made the putt. You can’t rely on making a 40-footer for par.”
A birdie try on the 18th green also nearly dropped, which could’ve raised him into a three-way tie if Poston and Gerard had missed par saves. They played in the same threesome in the final round.
“Overall I played a pretty good round of golf, but just got beat,” said Burns. “This golf course is too good to get frustrated. It doesn’t do you any good. You try to brush it off, move on, focus on the next shot. It (the drive on 17) was unfortunate, but I’m the one who hit it.”
The former two-time LSU All-American, who plays out of Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, took solace in how he and caddy Travis Perkins overcame the third-round double bogey to challenge for the win.
“It’s such a fine line. If I hit the ball on the (17th) fairway, give myself a chance on the green, hole a putt on 18 … it’s one little thing here or there,” he said. “I’m really proud of how we fought today. I felt I played a really good round of golf. You gotta take away the positives.”
Burns, playing for the first time in three weeks, said spending time with his wife Caroline and 2-year-old son Bear at home in Lincoln Parish allowed him some welcomed rest that gave him a lift and has him eager for Toronto and the U.S. Open in two weeks.
He led last year’s U.S. Open for most of the weekend but after heavy rains in the final round and a dubious USGA ruling forcing him to play out of what appeared to be standing water, struggled home for a seventh-place tie.
Sunday’s finish moved Burns up to 26th in FedEx Cup points. He is 34th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com