Sanderson Farms Championship 2021: Sam Burns Earns 2nd Career PGA Tour Win

Sam Burns earned his second PGA Tour win Sunday at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi, shooting a five-under 67 in the final round to finish 22 under par for the tournament. 

The win didn't come easy, though, with six players within two strokes of the lead, including Nick Watney (-21) and Cameron Young (-21). 

Burns separated himself from the pack with a brilliant stretch on Nos. 11-15, finishing with four birdies and a par. His back nine in general was phenomenal, with only a bogey on No. 18 sullying his finish. 

"The main thing for us was we knew what our game plan was and we knew that we had a purpose for each shot, and we were just going to stick to it and whatever happened at the end," Burns told reporters after his round.

"I saw the leaderboard when I was on 17 green, and I kind of thought the guys behind us weren't quite close enough to catch us, and I think that's when it kind of hit me that if I could just get it up there around the green and make a 4 or 5, we could do it," he added.

In total, he finished Sunday with seven birdies, two bogeys, an average driving distance of 314.1 yards and a driving accuracy of 57.1 percent. He hit 83.3 percent of greens in regulation, per PGATour.com, helping to mitigate his 0.571 strokes lost putting. 

Sahith Theegala opened the day atop the leaderboard but struggled during the final round, shooting a one-under 71. He slipped into a tie for eighth. Where Burns dominated the back nine, Theegala posted three bogeys between Nos. 10 and 13.

It was a tough stretch for a player who was otherwise excellent in Jackson:

Still, not too shabby for his second PGA start. Theegala's potential is evident. 

"I played some really good golf and just a little unfortunate how that sort of that back nine is, but it's my first one and first time really being in that position, so I'm obviously going to learn a lot and just take so many positives away," he told reporters. "And even the last few holes there I was proud of myself how I held it in there making a couple pars after I was already kind of out of contention."

Down the stretch, Theegala couldn't quite keep the pace. Burns was simply too good on his back nine.