Beyond the Ropes: Harris English gets a buzz out of ‘Jeopardy!’

PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Sam Burns is a winner again in the Valspar Championship, this time with a lot more stress and plenty of more emotion. RELATED: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Sam Burns, Valspar Championship Burns holed a birdie putt from just over 30 feet on the 16th hole to beat Davis Riley on the second playoff hole, giving him three PGA TOUR victories in his last 22 starts. Burns, who closed with a 2-under 69, is the second straight back-to-back winner at Innisbrook following Paul Casey’s consecutive wins in 2018 and 2019. The tournament was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic. The victory moves Burns to No. 2 in the FexExCup and No. 10 in the world for the first time, knocking Dustin Johnson out of the top 10 for the first time in seven years. “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.” Burns won last year by three shots. Riley, a rookie contending for the first time on the PGA TOUR, overcame a triple bogey on the par-5 fifth hole with a clutch 5-iron for birdie on the par-3 17th. He had a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th for the win and left it out to the right, closing with a 72. Both made pars on the 18th in the playoff, with Riley saving par from a front bunker. Neither looked to be in great birdie position on the 16th until Burns’ putt caught the left edge and went 180 degrees around the cup before falling in the back side. Riley hit a strong pitch needing to hole it to extend the playoff and missed long. Justin Thomas (70) and Matthew NeSmith (71) each finished one shot out of the playoff, and each had a share of the lead at some point during a tense final round in warm, windy conditions on the Copperhead course. Thomas was one shot out of the lead when he laid up 54 yards short on the par-5 11th. It settled in a tiny hole that kept him from clean contact, and his wedge went just long into light rough. His chip ran 12 feet by the hole and he took bogey at the easiest hole on the course. One hole later, Burns made a 15-foot birdie putt and Thomas suddenly was four shots behind. He had two straight birdies to stay in the game and had a chance when Burns took bogey from the bunker on the 17th. But then Thomas hit his tee shot into the slope of a bunker right of the 18th and couldn’t reach the green. It was his fourth top 10 in six starts this year for Thomas. “I didn’t really do anything at all today and I very easily could have won the tournament,” Thomas said. “I mean, good drive on 18, and I have a wedge in there and could be in this playoff just as easily. But a lot to build on a, lot of positives, and we got a big stretch coming up, so I’m excited for it.” NeSmith fell back with consecutive bogeys late on the front nine. One shot behind heading to the 10th tee, he didn’t make birdie until his 12-foot putt on the 17th. He had a 35-foot putt from the fringe to join the playoff, and it just slid by the hole. Those were the only four who had a serious chance at winning. Riley had never been in contention on the back nine on the PGA TOUR and looked like he might not get there at Innisbrook. Even though he started with a two-shot lead and opened with four solid pars, the par-5 fifth turned into a nightmare. From well left of the fairway, he went left down the adjacent sixth fairway, only to chunk his third shot from 106 yards into the base of a tree. He took a penalty drop, hit long into the rough, chipped long again into the rough and made triple bogey. But he steadied himself with a 50-foot birdie putt from the fringe on No. 8 and a nervy 7-foot par putt on the ninth and the race was on.

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When the 1986 Pensacola Open began, Ernie Gonzalez’s claim to PGA TOUR fame was his 10th-place finish at the Bank of Boston Classic a month earlier. That was his career-best performance. After rain delayed play both Thursday and Friday at the October tournament in Florida’s Panhandle, Gonzalez moved to the top of the leaderboard—thanks to an eagle and five birdies over his final nine holes of the second round Saturday at Perdido Bay Country Club. Gonzalez led Joey Sindelar by a shot, with a Sunday 36-hole finale looming. Those 36 holes never came as the rain that fell as Gonzalez finished his second round only intensified, becoming torrential at times. Unplayable course conditions left officials no choice but to cancel the final two rounds and declare Gonzalez the winner. That victory, Gonzalez’s lone PGA TOUR title, remained the highlight of his PGA TOUR career. The California native of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent died in a Chicago hospital of causes due to Alzheimer’s disease. He was 59. Gonzalez, the third lefthander to win a PGA TOUR event—behind Sam Adams and Bob Charles—was born February 19, 1961 in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista. He attended nearby U.S. International University, where he was a member of the golf team, and he turned pro in 1983. Gonzalez joined the TOUR in 1985. Following a 171st-place money-list finish in 1985, Gonzalez regained his playing privileges at that season’s Qualifying Tournament. His second year on TOUR was his high-water mark, making 25 appearances and getting to the weekend 13 times. Besides the win and the top-10 in Boston, he added a tie for third at the weather-shortened, 54-hole Vantage Championship in San Antonio, sharing third place with Ronnie Black, Phil Blackmar and Bobby Clampett, five shots behind winner Ben Crenshaw. Gonzalez finished the 1986 season 68th on the final money list. His $48,000 payday in San Antonio was a career-best, $7,500 more than his haul from Pensacola as officials reduced the Pensacola Open purse by 25 percent due to the two lost rounds. Following his victory, Gonzalez met with assembled reporters and talked about the long and productive week. “I was pretty nervous when I came out this morning. All we’ve been doing is sitting back and waiting. The waiting is tougher than the playing. I don’t know how to react.� He then paused, deciding on his words, before continuing. “It’s a win, and I’m happy. Realistically, my goal was to keep my card. Getting the win is a surprise and a big break.� Of his lone TOUR win, Gonzalez always contended, his opening-round 63 “was probably the best I’ve ever played.� Gonzalez’s victory did not lead to additional success on TOUR. By 1988, he had fallen to 207th on the money list and began playing sparingly after that, relying on his past-champion status to get into events. Between 1990 and 1998, he saw action in 38 tournaments but did play in at least one tournament every year from 1999 to 2010. His last made cut came at the 2009 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, a week where he showed he still had a little game remaining. After opening with a disappointing, 4-over 75 in the first round at TPC Summerlin, Gonzalez shaved 12 strokes off his score in the second round, firing a 63 that included a wild stretch of four birdies, a double bogey and an eagle on the back nine that moved him inside the cutline. He went on to shoot weekend rounds of 69-68 to tie for 47th. Gonzalez continued to play sporadic pro golf events while working for a beverage distributorship in Las Vegas. He played in 44 Korn Ferry Tour tournaments between the Tour’s inaugural year of 1990 and 2002. He tied for 14th at the 1990 New Haven Open in Connecticut for his top showing. After turning 50, he only played in one PGA TOUR Champions tournament, the 2011 Senior Open Championship, in Surrey, England, where he missed the cut. Funeral services are pending.

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Kamaiu Johnson hit a 97-yard bunker shot to a foot for birdie on the final hole and a 5-under 67 that gave him a one-shot victory Tuesday in the Mastercard APGA Tour Championship.

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