The final World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club did not disappoint, just ask No. 15 World Golf Championship-ranked and 2023 winner Sam Burns.

At the beginning of Sunday, most people would have predicted that former Texas Longhorn and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler would easily advance in his semifinal match to play world No. 3 Rory McIlroy in the championship round.  

Neither of them made it.

Instead, Burns shocked the reigning Dell Match Play champion in a thrilling 21 hole match, which included one of the best shots over the entire week on hole 17 where he was a mere foot from a hole-in-one. He followed that up in the final round by demolishing his former Junior Ryder Cup teammate Cameron Young 6&5 en route to his fifth career PGA Tour win.

“Oh, what a week,” Burns said after the win. “I’m so tired. It was fun playing Cam today. I know he didn’t have his best stuff, but it was a great match.” 

For Scheffler, it was a tough way to end his tournament, especially when he had multiple opportunities to win despite being down early. He ended up settling for fourth after losing to McIlroy 2&1 in the Third Place consolation match.

“It’s a bit frustrating, but I put up a good fight today,” Scheffler said after his loss to Burns. “I had a chance to almost go 4-down through 4 and put up a good fight and Sam played really well.”

Burns cruised through group play, posting a 3–0 record against Seamus Power, Adam Scott and Adam Hadwin. On Saturday, he defeated Patrick Cantlay in the Round of 16 2&1 and Mackenzie Hughes in the quarterfinals 3&2.

In the final match, Burns started out slow, tying the first hole and dropping the second. However, he would go on to tie the next two holes before winning four straight.

“I mean, I feel like I got off to kind of a — not a great start, but felt like I kind of found something at the end of my match this morning with Scottie, and I was able to carry that on this afternoon,” Burns said.

From then on, Burns never looked back. It seemed as though his game grew stronger as he hit the back nine.

As Burns walked down hole 13 after his tee shot five up with a chance to seal the match, he was met with thundering applause from the crowd as he nailed a three-footer to cement his dominating performance. He finished his day by winning seven out of the last nine holes. 

Burns will look to build on this win as he is set to compete this week in the Masters Invitational at Augusta National. 

But for now, an exhausted Burns just wants to rest.

“This hasn’t really sunk in and I’m looking forward to getting home and sleeping in my own bed tonight,”  Burns said.