Sam Burns defeats Davis Riley in playoff to defend title at 2022 Valspar Championship

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Sam Burns is starting to like the 16^th hole at Innisbrook Resort.

The 463-yard par-4 at the Copperhead Course is known as the start of the Snake Pit, a lethal three-hole stretch, and it was the site of Burns slithering in a 33-foot birdie putt on the second playoff to beat rookie Davis Riley and successfully defend his title at the Valspar Championship.

Burns posted a final-round 2-under 69 and matched his winning 72-hole total of a year ago at 17-under 267.

“A lot of times on Sunday if you can plot your way around, make a bunch of pars, throw in a few birdies here and there a lot of times it works well,” said Burns, who is expected to move to a career-best No. 10 in the world.

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He BURIES it❗️

Unbelievable putt from @SamBurns66. pic.twitter.com/CbWOptcjLW

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 20, 2022

After tying for the opening-round lead, Burns was asked if he benefited from having good memories at the site of his debut victory last May.

“The thing about last year is it has nothing to do with this year,” Burns said. “So many things are different. There’s not much correlation between the two.”

Not much except that Burns is a repeat winner, joining Paul Casey, who won the tournament in 2018-19, in pulling off that feat.

Burns followed up his opening-round 64 with a pair of 67s and trailed 54-hole leader Davis Riley by three strokes entering the final round. Riley, who grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Burns of Shreveport, Louisiana, are both 25 years old and longtime rivals dating to their junior golf days when Burns was ranked No. 1 and Riley second. They also were teammates on the 2014 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team. Asked after the third round if they’d ever had any epic battles, Burns said, “I’m sure there’s been some somewhere. Can’t remember off the top of my head.”

One broke out on Sunday after Riley, who shot a bogey-free 9-under 62 in the third round to set the 54-hole tournament scoring record at 18-under 195, ran into trouble at the fifth hole. He had gone 34 holes without a bogey until he made a triple bogey, the only one on any of the par 5s all week.

“I got punched in the mouth,” is how Riley described his debacle.

Suddenly, he trailed by one and there was a three-way tie for the lead between Burns, Justin Thomas and Matthew NeSmith.

Burns claimed sole possession of the lead at 16 under as NeSmith and Thomas made bogeys. Riley rebounded by chipping in for birdie from the fringe at 8. He added a birdie at 11 to keep pace with Burns until the defending champion poured in a 15-foot birdie at 12 to reach 18 under.

Burns’s lead grew to two when Riley bogeyed the 12th behind him. Burns made his lone blemish of the day when he tugged his tee shot into a greenside bunker and had to work hard for bogey at the par-3 17th hole, and one group later his lead was gone as Riley nailed his tee shot to 6 feet and canned the putt. With Burns watching nearby, Riley, who closed in 1-over 72, missed a 15-foot birdie at the last to win in regulation.

“I wasn’t rooting against him, but I just wanted a chance,” Burns said. “I wanted just one more chance to have my say.”

After both players made par at the first playoff, the 18th, they moved on to the 16th, where Burns has experienced both heartache and jubilation.

“I think that that’s the Snake Pit, that’s its MO, it comes down to some dramatic finishes and crazy things happen on that stretch,” Burns said.

In 2018, at age 21, Burns tripled the hole in the final round and tumbled from T-3 to T-12. Instead of earning special temporary membership on the PGA Tour, he spent the rest of the year on the Korn Ferry Tour.  He redeemed himself last year striking a 7-iron close and made a birdie that sewed up his first Tour title.

“To be on the good side of that the last couple years is definitely something that I don’t want to take for granted,” Burns said.

And how did making the winning putt feel at 16 this time? “As good as it looked,” said Burns, who showed an uncharacteristic amount of emotion, pumping his fist in celebration.

Just six days earlier, Burns was feeling down and out. Playing in the second-to-last group at the Players Championship alongside eventual winner Cameron Davis, he shot a final-round 76. Afterwards, he phone his swing coach, Brad Pullin.

“I was like, ‘Man, I’m struggling, I’m not really sure.’ And he was like, ‘I can be there tomorrow,’ ” Burns recounted. “And I said, ‘You know, I don’t want to affect anything you have going on your schedule.’ And he was like, ‘No, I’ll be there tomorrow.’ ”

Pullin drove 12 hours to Innisbrook, and a few tweaks here and there and Burns was a new man. It didn’t hurt that he made every big putt he faced on Sunday. Earlier in the week, Thomas, who played alongside Burns in the final round, had this to say about Burns’s putting prowess.

“I love his putting stroke,” Thomas said. “He looks so natural and so comfortable and athletic over the ball, but also relaxed.”

Thomas, who has five top-10 finishes in eight starts this season, shot 70 and tied for third with NeSmith, who matched the course record on Friday shooting 61 and narrowly missed a 34-foot birdie putt at the last to join the playoff. He settled for notching his first-top-10 finish of the season.

Having already won the Sanderson Farms Championship in October, Burns became the fourth multiple winner on Tour this season. Next year, he’ll go for the three-peat at Copperhead.

“I guess it’s got to be my favorite at this point,” Burns said.