Palm Harbor, Florida – Horses for courses. Not sure what it is about the Copperhead course, but in the last 4 events at Innisbrook, only two players have walked away victorious. In 2018 & 2019 Paul Casey turned the trick (the event was canceled in 2020 due to covid-19) and now Sam Burns has matched the Englishman with repeat wins in 2021 and 2022. The latest was a lot more stressful and exciting to watch.
Starting the day three shots off the lead, Burns played steady stress free golf all day, with birdies at the 5th, 11th and 12th holes, with his lone bogey coming at the par 3 seventeenth. The dramatics arrived when he holed a 31-foot putt on the second hole (the par 4 -sixteenth) of a sudden-death playoff with Davis Riley. The win was his third career PGA Tour victory and vaults him to no.10 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Burns shot a final round 2 under par 69 in regulation to finish at 17 under par. Davis Riley who led after 54 holes, overcame a triple-bogey at the par 5 fifth, making a much-needed birdie on the par 3 seventeenth to tie at the end of regulation and reach the playoff. Riley who finished with a final round 72, had a 15-foot attempt on the 72nd hole to win, but the putt just missed on the right side.
“Man, it’s crazy,” Burns said. “Davis played well today, especially the way he finished. I tried to stay steady. I didn’t make a lot of mistakes. A lot of time on Sunday if you plot your way around, make a bunch of pars, throw in a few birdies, a lot of times it works well. So happy.”
Justin Thomas (70) and Matthew NeSmith (71) each finished tied for third, one shot back at 16 under par.
