By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Choudrant resident Sam Burns made a run at winning the BMW Championship in the PGA Tour playoffs Sunday, and raised his stock in the swirl of speculation over who USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley will soon pick for the six open slots on his roster.
Burns was briefly one shot out of the lead, and tied for second during Sunday’s final round before two closing bogies dropped the 29-year-old into a tie for a fourth-place finish at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland. He posted a 10-under total (68-67-67-68) and collected a $910,000 payday to raise his season’s official money winnings to $5.6 million heading into the $40 million Tour Championship starting Thursday in Atlanta.
The two-time LSU All-American, the 2016 college player of the year, birdied three times on the front nine Sunday, and got to 4-under for the day with a birdie on the 11th hole. Burns bogied 14, bounced back with a bird on the par-5 16th, and was errant off the tee on the final two holes, the par-3 17th and par-4 18th, two of Sunday’s five toughest pars per tournament statistics.
Sunday’s final round closed the Ryder Cup selection of the six automatic slots, based soley on the Tour’s points system. That half-dozen is headed by Scottie Scheffler, who rallied from four shots down to capture the BMW title Sunday, finishing at 15-under. Bradley’s other six picks will consider Ryder Cup points standings, but will be a subjective decision.
Burns, a Shreveport native who plays out of Squire Creek Country Club, recorded his fifth top 10 of the season and made the cut for the 20th time in 23 starts, including the last 14 dating back to playing 72 holes at The Masters in April.
He stands 17th in the field of 30 golfers who advanced to East Lake CC for the Tour Championship, making the season-ending event for the fifth straight year. 9
Bradley will announce his six captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup team on Wednesday, Aug. 27. Burns was a captain’s choice in 2023 and on the 2024 Presidents Cup team, and was an automatic selection for his first international competition as a Tour member, the 2022 Presidents Cup.
His PGA Tour official career earnings rose to $33.5 million since 2019 after he posted his 19th career top 5 finish.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com
