SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — As Sam Burns flung his putter and dropped to all fours, all of Shinnecock Hills’ 18th hole amphitheater felt the agony with him.Burns was just that close.A few unruly blades of Poa annua grass separated Burns from his chance to steal the U.S. Open from Wyndham Clark. That one edge-burning putt could have put him in the same sentence as Arnold Palmer, the only player in U.S. Open history to overcome a seven-shot deficit. A few centimeters more and maybe Burns could have shared his maiden major championship with his father, Todd, and his two-year-old son, Bear — on Father’s Day.On Sunday, Burns knew what was on the line, and you could see just how much it meant to him. An hour later, just talking about it brought the 29-year-old to tears.“It’s just not very often we have a chance to win a major on Father’s Day,” Burns said. “I think just the weight of that and knowing what that memory could have been like, it would have been really special.”Burns’ final-round 67 was the second-lowest round of the day. He earned $2.43 million in prize money for his best finish in a major championship, but his Sunday at Shinnecock Hills will be defined by what could have been.What became possible after Burns’ fast start to Sunday — four birdies in the first eight holes, and another on the par-5 16th — will linger just as much as the missed opportunities, like missed birdie putts on each of the last two holes. That feeling of what could have been is familiar to Burns after last year at Oakmont, when he received a controversial ruling, and his chance at that U.S. Open vanished just as quickly as the rainstorm that preceded it.Sunday could have been Burns’ perfect redemption. Instead, he will just have to wait for his major moment.“I think when you get to a certain level, a major is the next goal. I’m sure he wanted it so badly,” said Burns’ mother, Beth, as her son waited and hoped for a playoff. “Next year.”Next year? It turns out there might be more to the story of Burns’ steady release of emotion on Sunday. Burns’ game is peaking, including a T7 at the Masters in April, but this might have been his last chance of the season to win that coveted first major championship.While the rest of the world’s best players will have another opportunity for major glory at next month’s Open Championship, Burns’ mother revealed to The Athletic on Sunday that her son may not see a stage of this nature until 2027. His wife, Caroline, is due to give birth in the middle of July.“He won’t go to Europe,” Beth said. “This is his last major. They’re going to go home and have a baby.”Sam Burns with wife, Caroline, right, and son, Bear, at the 2026 Masters Par 3 Contest. (Andrew Redington / Getty Images)While Clark birdied No. 16 and bogeyed the next hole, Burns chased after his son, Bear, a blond-haired toddler, who seemed to enjoy stumbling around the empty practice area and playing in parked golf carts. Then he anxiously watched the tournament coverage alongside his coach, Brad Pullin. And finally, he retreated inside Shinnecock’s pro shop to have some time to surround himself privately with his inner circle.