Back nine collapse dooms Thompson at U.S. Open

JACKSON, Miss. — Sam Burns ran off four birdies in a six-hole stretch to start the back nine and pulled away for a 5-under 67 to win the Sanderson Farms Championship on Sunday for his second PGA TOUR victory this year. RELATED: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Sam Burns, Sanderson Farms Championship Against a list of contenders looking for their first win, Burns showed what it takes at the Country Club of Jackson by playing flawlessly on the back nine until it didn’t matter. He seized control with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th, a 5-iron to 15 feet that set up a two-putt birdie on the next hole and then a perfect pitch from behind the green on the reachable par-4 15th for a tap-in birdie. Staked to a two-shot lead going down the 18th, he took a safe bogey from the greenside bunker to secure a one-shot win over resurgent Nick Watney and PGA TOUR rookie Cameron Young. Watney, coming off his worst season in more than a decade, closed with a 65 and had his best finish in more than three years. Young’s hopes began to fade on the 14th with a clunker out of the rough into a fairway bunker that led to him having to make a 4-footer for bogey. Still, he made a slick up-and-down from off the 18th green for par that gave him a 68 and a share of second, which sets him up well for the season. That starts with playing next week in Las Vegas instead of having to go through Monday qualifying. “I love being in contention, I love feeling the nerves, so it was fun today. I enjoyed it, even though it might not have looked like it,” Young said. “I knew Sam was ahead of me and I had to make a couple and just didn’t, but I will another time.” Sahith Theegala, the California rookie who began the final round with a one-shot lead, had control of the final round until he reached the back nine. He failed to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the par-3 10th, missing a 7-foot putt. With a 7-iron in his hand for his second to the par-5 11th, he leaked the shot to the right and into the water, and missed a 4-foot putt to take bogey. Two holes later, he three-putted from 18 feet for bogey. From there, it was about limiting the damage. He played the final five holes in 1 under for a 71. Theegala tied for eighth, which gets him into the field next week in Las Vegas. For Burns, the 25-year-old from Louisiana is just starting to cash in. He won the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook in the spring and has had more chances than that throughout the year, losing a playoff in Memphis in August and coming up one shot away from a playoff at Riviera in February. Burns did well enough to earn some serious consideration from Steve Stricker as a captain’s pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. And now with his second win of the year — in his first start of the new season — Burns moves into the top 20 in the world ranking for the first time. He ended a trend in which six of the last seven winners of the Sanderson Farms Championship captured their first PGA TOUR title. Burns was among the few who had winning experience. Six players in contention at the start of the final round had recently earned PGA TOUR cards through the Korn Ferry Tour. Among the exceptions was Watney, first slowed by a lower back injury and then by a loss in confidence. He went back to working with Butch Harmon in the summer, and then put together a superb week with his putter, leading the field in the key putting statistic. “There was definitely some lean times, especially last year, but I’m not trying to think about that any more,” Watney said. “I’m trying to continue to get better and this was a great step this week. I’m ready.”

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The PGA Tour stays in Hawaii but moves to Honolulu for the Sony Open. Our experts offer their best bets for the event.

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Lightning in the area will prevent the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans from being completed on Thursday. Play in the Fourballs first-round format was suspended at 10:41 a.m. ET due to heavy rains and lightning. Tournament officials were hoping to resume play in the early afternoon but more lightning and rain in the forecast pushed back those plans. Play isn’t expected to resume until at least 5:30 p.m ET, if at all. Half of the 80-man teams have started their first rounds, with just two teams having completed as many as 10 holes. Even if play resumes in the late afternoon, it’s doubtful teams with afternoon tee times will even begin their rounds. Sunset is at 8:34 p.m ET. “We’re going to play as much golf as we can today and finish up what we have to tomorrow,� said PGA TOUR rules official Gary Young of the first round. “Hopefully not into Saturday. But I think we’ll have enough time to get it done by tomorrow.� The team of Joel Dahmen-Brandon Harkins had the lead at 6-under through nine holes when play was suspended. Once the first round is completed, teams will then switch to the Foursomes format for the second round. With less shots being struck, the pace of play will speed up. After the cut to 35 teams and ties, the third round will revert back to Four-balls, then Foursomes again for the final round. Young doesn’t anticipate many adjustments in course set-up due to the weather. “You can be a little bit more aggressive with the set-up of the golf course certainly on this Four-ball format, and then when we get to the Foursomes where it’s alternate shot, maybe not as aggressive,� Young said. The sand-capped fairways at TPC Louisiana allow for adequate drainage, leaving the bunkers as the big issue to get the course in playing shape. “The biggest challenge we have ahead of us are the bunkers on the golf course,� Young said. “They’re pretty much full of water right now.�

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