POTOMAC - Bob Burns finished a memorable week yesterday in the $3.6 million Kemper Insurance Open at the Tournament Players Club at Avenel.
He finished third, his best result in a PGA Tour event.
He made a hole-in-one to take a two-shot lead with seven holes to play.
The only thing Burns didn't do was win.
"Overall in the big scheme of things, I'm a little disappointed in not being able to take away the victory," Burns, 34, said after a 1-over par 72 left him at 9-under 275 and two shots behind Bob Estes. "But I'm also very proud of myself.
"I hung in there and I was right there in the end."
The end for Burns came when he double-bogeyed the par-4 16th. After nearly hitting a perfect 9-iron into the elevated green, he watched his ball spin off and dribble down the side of a hill onto the grating of a drainage ditch.
Burns took a drop and decided to putt the ball up the hill with the cup 30 feet away. His first putt rolled up to the edge of the fringe before stopping. His second, from about 10 feet, rolled 2 feet by. He missed the putt coming back.
"It might have been a bad decision to putt," said Burns, who nearly made a 35-footer for birdie on 17 and then saved par from about 8 feet away on 18. "But I couldn't really come up with anything else to do."
While Burns came away disappointed, he didn't come away empty-handed. His third-place check for $208,800 was by far the biggest of his career. With it, he has made more than $396,000 this year, more than he has made in any of his previous eight years on tour.
"I'll take a lot of positive vibes from this experience," he said. "I'll learn from it. I know there's something in my game that I revert to under pressure and that's something I have to work on."
Burns also will carry with him the memory of his ace on the par-3 11th, coming with a 9-iron from 157 yards. The ball hit a mound on the right side of the green, kicked left and rolled some 60 feet into the cup.
"That was really cool," he said.
Good day on the job
Rich Beem, who is one of Burns' best friends on tour, say the two often like to play practical jokes by signing each other's names when they give autographs. It is certain that Beem won't sign Burns' name on his second-place check of $388,800.
It marked Beem's biggest payday and best finish since he won at Avenel in 1999.
The difference this time was on the greens.
"It's not even close," said Beem, whose 2-under 69 and four-round total of 10-under 274 left him one shot behind Estes. "The year I won, I made miles and miles of putts. This year I was hitting it really well, but I wasn't making any short putts."
As Beem was finishing his post-round news conference, Burns entered the tent.
"Hi, Burnsie. Did you sign my name for any of the people?" Beem asked.
Burns nodded.
"Good for you," Beem said.
Norman's tumble
After being in contention the first two days and taking a two-shot lead into the third round, it was a tough weekend for former two-time Kemper Open champion Greg Norman.
From the time he birdied the par-4 fifth hole to go to 10 under on Saturday, Norman played the remaining holes in 5 over. He followed a 3-over 74 on Saturday with a 2-over 73 yesterday to finish tied for 13th.
When he tapped in on 18, Norman tossed his ball in the direction of veteran broadcaster Ken Venturi, who closed out his television career this past weekend with CBS. The ball didn't come close to Venturi.
"It probably was the way I putted: Everything was left," Norman said.
Norman, who lost his membership on the PGA Tour because he didn't play in the minimum number of events last season, will try to qualify for the U.S. Open at a sectional event in Tampa, Fla., this week.
"It will be a different feeling," Norman said.
After leaving here five years ago with bad feeling after weekend blowups with the official starter and a couple of fans, Norman was well-received this week. As he walked up toward the clubhouse yesterday, one fan yelled, "Come back, Sharkie!"
Said Norman, 47: "I like this place."