PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – It’s been quite the year for Sam Burns since his victory at the 2018 Savannah Golf Championship.

Burns, who finished second in The 25 last year, captured the inaugural event by one over Roberto Castro. He then had two more top-3 finishes in 2018 and earned a PGA TOUR card comfortably. Plus he bought a house and got his full-time PGA TOUR career started.

He nearly won this fall at the Sanderson Farms Championship – he finished T-3 – and has played steady golf the last month or so, with three straight made-cuts.

But Burns credits his victory at the Deer Creek Course at The Landings Club in Savannah as the springboard to any of his recent successes.

“Getting my first victory as a professional in Savannah gave me a lot of confidence going forward,” said Burns on the practice green at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, where he’s teeing it up on the PGA TOUR this week.

“It’s something every pro starting out is searching for, that first sign of affirmation that you can play competitively on a professional tour.”

Burns ended up playing 11 times on the PGA TOUR last year, essentially splitting time with the Web.com Tour. He qualified for the U.S. Open (where he finished T-41) but most famously he finished T-8 at The Honda Classic, nipping playing partner Tiger Woods by two shots (and causing nearly 500 text messages to be sent to his phone).

“He played beautifully,” said Woods in his post-round press conference that Sunday.

Although Burns didn’t earn the required number of Non-Member FedExCup points to earn TOUR membership for the balance of 2018, his win in Savannah (along with an earlier second-place result) locked up his spot in The 25 early in the season.

“I had a good year last year splitting time between the PGA TOUR and the Web.com Tour so I think, starting the year out here a little more comfortable,” said Burns.

He admitted he hasn’t had the start to the year he would have hoped for – the T-3 aside, he’s had only one other top-20 finish – but said his game is “coming around” and he’s hopeful for another good week at this time of year.

He’s spent the last three months or so doing a lot of learning.

“I think golf is a game that teaches you a lot of different things whether you want it to or not,” he said. “Even last week (at the Valspar Championship) I was learning about a couple different things that I haven’t experienced before. I’ll always try to learn and get better from those experiences.”

Burns was topped on The 25 a year ago by Player of the Year Sungjae Im, who is the highest-ranked golfer in the FedExCup in the field this week in Punta Cana. He pointed at Im on the practice green and said he’s proof that momentum can do wonders for a golfer’s confidence.

“If you look at his last three starts, he’s finished top-5 in two of those. That’s a good example of a guy who gets hot and rolls with it,” he said.

The Corales Golf Course, Burns said, is going to be a challenging one. He said it’s unlike some resort courses where you have to commit to targets. Guys won’t be going at every pin, he said, especially with some unpredictable winds in the forecast.

Burns said his preparatory work so far this year on the PGA TOUR hasn’t changed much since he was on the Web.com Tour a year ago.

“I try not to change anything depending on the tournament,” he said. “Just coming out here and taking care what I need to take care of is the most important.”

One thing Burns certainly hasn’t changed, even after earning full-time TOUR status, is his small-town attitude.

The reserved Burns recently bought a house in Choudrant, Louisiana (about an hour from Shreveport with a population, according to the last census, of less than 1,000) and remains close with his childhood coach who is in town. His club, Squire Creek Country Club, is also a Tom Fazio design – like Corales – and he admits the town has gotten a few more things than just a Subway restaurant like when he moved there originally.

“But it’s definitely just a really small town,” he said with a smile. “I like it there a lot. You can get away from everything and there’s just something about it I enjoy.”

Burns sits 100th on the FedExCup standings through the early part of 2018-19 – although nearly 50 percent of his FedExCup points were earned thanks to his result at the Sanderson Farms Championship – and is now looking for the same kind of success this week like a year ago on the Web.com Tour to propel him even higher up in the standings.

He shot three-straight rounds of 65 a year ago to take the title in Georgia, and that kind of steady play is what he’s hoping for again.

“I feel like I can compete week in and week out,” he said, “but it’s just a matter of doing it consistently.”