By Doug Ireland, Journal Sports
Sam Burns’ streak of sub-70 rounds stopped at four on Sunday, as he slipped out of contention for the RBC Canadian Open crown with a 1-over-par 71.
Burns was tied for seventh entering the final round but dipped to a tie for 20th amid some final day charges. Tour veteran Bud Cauley won at 17 under, shooting a 65 Sunday. He was second entering Round 4 but the next two finishers, Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland, moved up 10 and 9 spots, respectively, on a rainy day at the TPC Osprey Valley course.
Carding 9-under for the tournament (64-67-69-71), Burns collected $96,857, raising his season’s total winnings to $3.5 million.
A year ago, the Choudrant resident charged on the final day at the Canadian Open and lost in a four-hole playoff to Ryan Fox. The following week, he led the U.S. Open for much of the final two rounds before a controversial ruling forced him to play out of what appeared to be standing water and resulted in a double bogey on the 15th hole, starting a slide from first to a final tie for 7th – still, his best U.S. Open showing so far.
Burns, a 29-year-old Shreveport native, is still in good form heading into this week’s Open at Shinnecock Hills and early odds list him among the top 10 contenders. He has carded scores under 70 in seven of his last 10 rounds and has eight top 26 or better finishes, and nothing worse than 38th, since mid-March in 10 tournaments.
He tied for fourth a week ago at The Memorial after leading on the final day, and tied for seventh at The Masters and was within one shot of the lead on Saturday.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com
