FORT WORTH, Texas – Sam Burns made a 38-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole at Colonial Country Club, which came just more than two hours after he had finished his round, to beat top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and claim the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament.
After finishing his 5-under 65 to get to 9 under, Burns was done in the clubhouse when, at one point, Scheffler was among five players tied at 10 under.
The gusty wind and a strange sequence changed all that. And Scheffler needed three clutch putts for a 72 just to get into the playoff matching 25-year-old standouts and close friends.
Burns´ seven-stroke comeback matched Nick Price in 1994 for the biggest in a final round to win Colonial, AP reported.
The playoff began with both driving into the fairway at No. 18, the same hole where just moments earlier Scheffler made a 6-foot par after his approach on his 72nd hole went into the bunker.
Scheffler got on the green with his approach in the playoff, but was 36 feet away. Burns hit just off the back edge of the green and used his putter, with the ball curling the last few feet into the cup. Scheffler made a good run with his putt, but didn´t have a birdie all day.
It was the third win this season for Burns, and his fourth overall in his last 27 starts. The world´s 10th-ranked player won at Valspar for the second time in March.
The Colonial win was worth $1,512,000, along with a plaid jacket and a custom-built Schwab Firebird Trans Am.
Masters champion Scheffler was going for his fifth victory in his last 10 starts. He missed becoming the first player since Tom Watson in 1980 with five wins in a PGA Tour season before the start of June.
Steven Alker avoided mistakes down the stretch and closed with an 8-under 63 for a three-shot victory in the Senior PGA Championship, his third title this year and first major.
Alker started the final round four shots behind and forged a three-way tie with Stephen Ames and Bernhard Langer on the back nine.
Langer missed the green on consecutive holes and made bogeys to fall back. Ames hit his drive into the water on the par-4 14th and had to scramble for bogey.
Alker birdied the 15th and 16th holes playing in front of Ames to seize control, and Ames couldn´t catch up.
Alker finished at 16-under 268. Ames closed with a 70 to finish second, while Langer (71) finished alone in third.
Alker, a 50-year-old from New Zealand, spent the bulk of his career on the Korn Ferry Tour and a few seasons on the PGA Tour and European tour. Since he turned 50 last summer, he has taken over the PGA Tour Champions with four wins in his last 11 starts.
The victory gets him into the PGA Championship next year at Oak Hill. Alker had such an ordinary career before 50 that he never qualified for the PGA Championship.
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