By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

With an incredible $25 million in prize money at stake next weekend at the PGA Tour Championship at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta, there’s no better time for Sam Burns to be at his best.

On Sunday, the Choudrant resident nearly won the FedEx Cup’s penultimate event, the BMW Championship, but finished tied for second after finishing fifth a week earlier at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of the tour’s three-stage playoffs.

Burns was the clubhouse leader on Sunday at the Castle Pines Country Club Course, a PGA Tour record-tying 8,130-yard elevation course, shooting a 65 (seven under par), the best of the 48 players, and finishing at 11 strokes (11 under par).

It was almost 12 under par. Burns pitched out of a greenside bunker on the last hole and missed by a foot, on the line for a birdie.

“I knew it was a good line and I knew it was a pretty good weight. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t,” he said after falling to the ground in disappointment when the shot stopped short. “Yeah, (my reaction) was a little dramatic.”

That would have tied him at 12 under par, the winning total of Keegan Bradley. Burns, a Shreveport native who plays at Squire Creek Country Club, had eight birdies but a bogey on the par-5 14th on Sunday.^th.

On Sunday, he was the best drive player in the field and led in fairway accuracy, hitting 12 of 14 fairways. Burns was No. 2 in putting, holing 133 feet on the greens.

His strong finish catapulted him to ninth place in the FedEx Cup standings, matching his career-best finish last year after the Tour Championship. It means he will start Thursday’s Atlanta match at 4 under par, while his buddy Scottie Scheffler, the Cup leader, will open the tournament at 10 under par.

Burns earned $1,503,333 from his three-point tie, as did Adam Scott and Ludvig Amberg. This brought the former LSU All-American’s season earnings to $6.1 million and his career earnings to $27.9 million with his 16^th Career top-five placement and the 36^th The top 10 are displayed.

The 28-year-old will be among the 30 most successful players of the season for the fourth time in a row at the Tour Championship. In addition to the winner’s share of $25 million, the runner-up will receive $12.5 million, third place will receive $7.5 million and the top 12 players will win at least one million. A payout of $550,000 will go to the 30^th-Course Golfers.

Contact Doug at [email protected]