Burns outduels Bradley to capture PGA Valspar title
Sam Burns won the Valspar Championship and capture his first US PGA Tour title.
MIAMI (AFP) - Sam Burns outdueled fellow American Keegan Bradley over the back nine on Sunday to win the Valspar Championship and capture his first US PGA Tour title.
Burns fired a final-round three-under par 68 to finish 72 holes on 17-under 267 and defeat Bradley by three strokes at Innisbrook resort s Copperhead course in Palm Harbor, Florida.
The 24-year-old took his breakthrough victory in his 76th PGA start with his wife, parents and siblings among those there to celebrate with him and caddie Travis Perkins.
"It s just, you work so hard for this moment," Burns said, wiping his eyes.
"To have them all here, they have sacrificed so much for me growing up, it really is a dream coming true."
World number 94 Burns, whose prior PGA career best was third at Riviera in February, had been a leader after 36 and 54 holes in prior events but had never managed a victory until now.
"Those moments in the past, they just test you and you learn a lot from them," Burns said.
"Coming down the back nine, Travis and I just tried to stick to our process. In the past, I got away from that. Today I was focused on that."
Burns finished 15-under for the week on the course s par-5 holes, including three birdies on Sunday.
Bradley, the 135th-ranked winner of the 2011 PGA Championship, missed a chance for his fifth US PGA victory and first since the 2018 BMW Championship.
"I just didn t hit the shots I needed coming down the end, but I m proud of the way I finished off to come in solo second," Bradley said.
Norway s Viktor Hovland and American Cameron Tringale shared third on 271 with Mexico s Abraham Ancer fifth on 272.
Burns and Bradley were deadlocked for the lead at 17-under with six holes remaining after Bradley curled in a tense six-foot par putt at the 12th.
Bradley plunked his tee shot into the water at the par-3 13th on the way to a double bogey while Burns sank a testy eight-foot par putt to seize a two-stroke lead.
Burns dropped his approach inches from the cup at the par-5 14th and made birdie to reach 18-under and lead by three with four holes to play.
Bradley missed a four-foot par putt at the par-3 15th to stay three adrift after a Burns bogey, then Burns sank an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-4 16th to stretch his lead to four shots, a fist pump his first sign of the emotions within.
A closing bogey kept Burns from matching the 72-hole tournament record of 18-under 266 set by Fiji s Vijay Singh in his 2004 triumph.
Bradley and Burns matched the 54-hole course record to put themselves in Sunday s final pairing and the title chase was basically a two-man fight.
They both opened with birdies while Burns added a five-foot birdie putt at the second to grab the lead alone at 16-under.
Bradley stumbled back with a bogey on the third hole but birdied the par-5 fifth and par-4 sixth, dropping approaches inside four and eight feet respectively, to again share the lead.
Burns, 24, curled in a 26-foot birdie putt at the par-4 seventh but made bogey at the par-3 eighth.
Bradley responded with his third birdie in five holes, sinking a 16-foot putt at the par-4 ninth to grab the lead at 17-under.
At the par-5 11th, Burns was left into trees and Bradley way right but both punched out short of the green and while Bradley saved par, Burns made a 15-foot birdie putt to share the lead again.
