Palm Harbor, Fla. – The wait is over. Former LSU men’s golfer Sam Burns secured his first career PGA Tour event win on Sunday at the Valspar Championship by firing a 3-under 68 in the final round to finish three strokes ahead of Keegan Bradley, the runner up.

“I’ve worked so hard for this moment,” Burns said shortly after his win. “To have my family here, they’ve sacrificed so much. It’s really a dream come true. The moments from the past test you and you learn a lot from them. We just stuck to our process and played my game.”

Burns played exquisite golf in the final round and got things started on the right foot with birdies on his first two holes of the day. He went out in 2-under 34 and closed with a steady 1-under 34 for his 68.

Burns shared the 54 hole lead with Bradley after rounds of 67, 63, and 69. His 8-under 63 on Friday, which was the lowest round of the tournament, featured a perfect card with eight birdies and 10 pars. With the win, Burns will shoot way up the FedEx Cup standings. He entered the week ranked 47th and will be 14th after this weekend’s win.

This marks Burns’ fifth top 10 finish of the year in what has been his most successful year on the PGA Tour yet. Burns, the 2017 Division Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year, was a two-time All American during his two years at LSU for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. His sophomore campaign saw him average an LSU scoring record of 70.05 en route to 14 top-10 finishes and four wins that season.

Burns becomes the 10th former LSU men’s golfer to win a PGA Tour title joining the likes of David Toms (13x winner), Gardner Dickinson (7x winner), Jay Hebert (7x winner), Fred Haas (5x winner), Johnny Pott (5x winner), Mac McLendon (4x winner), Earl Stewart (3x winner), Brian Bateman (1x winner), and Smylie Kaufman (1x winner).

The win earns him PGA Tour exemption all the way through the 2022-23 PGA Tour season and he receives invites to the PGA Championship, The Masters, and The Players Championship.