Sam Burns

This article is about the American golfer. For other people, see Sam Burns (disambiguation).

Samuel Holland Burns (born July 23, 1996) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He played his college golf at Louisiana State University. He has won five times on the PGA Tour.

Sam Burns
Burns in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Samuel Holland Burns
Born	(1996-07-23) July 23, 1996 (age 28) Shreveport, Louisiana
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Sporting nationality	United States
Residence	Choudrant, Louisiana
Spouse	Caroline Campbell ​ (m. 2019)​
Career
College	Louisiana State University
Turned professional	2017
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour
Former tour(s)	Web.com Tour
Professional wins	6
Highest ranking	9 (May 29, 2022)[1] (as of November 24, 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	5
European Tour	1
Korn Ferry Tour	1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	T29: 2023
PGA Championship	T20: 2022
U.S. Open	T9: 2024
The Open Championship	T31: 2024

Amateur career

Burns was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Todd and Beth Burns. During his prep career at Calvary Baptist Academy, he was a three-time individual state champion. He was named AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 2014. Burns played college golf at Louisiana State University, where he won four tournaments in 15 collegiate starts during his sophomore season. He was named a first-team All-American and was the NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year for the 2016–17 season.^[2] Burns represented the United States on the winning 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup team and he qualified for the PGA Tour's 2017 Barbasol Championship, where he finished T6.^[3][4]

Professional career

In October 2017, Burns made his PGA Tour debut as a professional at the Sanderson Farms Championship.^[5] After finishing T43, he played a week later at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and finished T20. Burns earned guaranteed starts for the first 12 Web.com Tour events of the 2018 season with his T10 finish at the final stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament.^[6] He finished T2 at the Colombia Championship in February 2018. Burns finished T7 at the Honda Classic with Tiger Woods as his playing partner in the final round, earning Burns entry into the Valspar Championship, where he finished T12.^[7] Burns earned his first professional win at the 2018 Savannah Golf Championship on the Web.com Tour when he birdied each of the final three holes to defeat Roberto Castro by one stroke.^[8] He gained a place on the PGA Tour at the end of the 2018 Web.com season.^[9]

Burns has played on the PGA Tour since the start of the 2018–19 season. In February 2021, he finished solo third place at the Genesis Invitational, one shot outside of the playoff with Tony Finau and Max Homa, Homa being the eventual winner. Burns held the solo lead at the end of each of the first three rounds but was ultimately caught on the back 9 during the final round. In May, Burns won the Valspar Championship for his first PGA Tour victory. Burns shot a final round 68 to win by three strokes over Keegan Bradley.^[10] Two weeks later Burns finished runner-up to K.H. Lee at the AT&T Byron Nelson.^[11]

On October 3, 2021, Burns won his second PGA Tour title at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi.^[12] On March 20, 2022, Burns won his second consecutive Valspar Championship title, beating Davis Riley in a playoff.^[13] On May 29, 2022, Burns won the Charles Schwab Challenge after making a 38-foot birdie putt in a playoff against Scottie Scheffler. Burns overcame a seven stroke deficit to win, matching Nick Price in 1994 for largest comeback in a final round to win at Colonial Country Club.^[14]

Burns qualified for the U.S. team at the 2022 Presidents Cup; he tied two and lost three of the five matches he played.^[15]

In March 2023, Burns won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, defeating Cameron Young 6 and 5 in the championship match.^[16]

Burns was selected as one of Zach Johnson's six captain's picks for the 2023 Ryder Cup, which would mark Burns's first appearance in the event.^[17]

In September 2023, Burns played on the U.S. team in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia, Rome, Italy. The European team won 16.5–11.5 and Burns went 1–2–0 including a loss in his Sunday singles match against Rory McIlroy.

Personal life

Burns is a Christian.^[18] He is married to Caroline Burns.^[19] They had a son, named Bear, in 2024.^[20]

Burns has been a supporter of Compassion International's "Fill the Stadium" initiative, an initiative "which seeks to provide food, medical supplies and other forms of support to children and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic."^[18]

Amateur wins

• 2014 AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions, Junior PGA Championship
• 2016 David Toms Intercollegiate, Sun Bowl Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic
• 2017 Louisiana Classics, NCAA Baton Rouge Regional

Professional wins (6)

PGA Tour wins (5)

Legend
World Golf Championships (1)
Designated events (1)[a]
Other PGA Tour (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	May 2, 2021	Valspar Championship	67-63-69-68=267	−17	3 strokes	Keegan Bradley
2	Oct 3, 2021	Sanderson Farms Championship	68-66-65-67=266	−22	1 stroke	Nick Watney, Cameron Young
3	Mar 20, 2022	Valspar Championship (2)	64-67-67-69=267	−17	Playoff	Davis Riley
4	May 29, 2022	Charles Schwab Challenge	71-68-67-65=271	−9	Playoff	Scottie Scheffler
5	Mar 26, 2023	WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play	6 and 5			Cameron Young

PGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2021	WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational	Abraham Ancer, Hideki Matsuyama	Ancer won with birdie on second extra hole
2	2022	Valspar Championship	Davis Riley	Won with birdie on second extra hole
3	2022	Charles Schwab Challenge	Scottie Scheffler	Won with birdie on first extra hole

Web.com Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Apr 1, 2018	Savannah Golf Championship	72-65-65-65=267	−21	1 stroke	Roberto Castro

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament	2016	2017	2018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open	CUT		T41
The Open Championship
PGA Championship

Tournament	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Masters Tournament				CUT	T29	CUT
PGA Championship	T29		WD	T20	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open			CUT	T27	T32	T9
The Open Championship		NT	T76	T42	CUT	T31

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
WD = withdrew
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	1	1	6	4
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	3
Totals	0	0	0	0	1	2	18	10

• Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2022 PGA – 2023 Masters)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (once)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament	2021	2022	2023	2024
The Players Championship	CUT	T26	T35	T45

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
2023	WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play	n/a	6 and 5		Cameron Young

Results timeline

Tournament	2021	2022	2023
Championship
Match Play			1
Invitational	T2
Champions	NT1	NT1

¹Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Junior Ryder Cup: 2014 (winners)
• Arnold Palmer Cup: 2017 (winners)

Professional

• Presidents Cup: 2022 (winners), 2024 (winners)
• Ryder Cup: 2023

See also

• 2018 Web.com Tour Finals graduates

Notes

1. The 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play was also a designated event.

References

1. "Week 22 2022 Ending 29 May 2022" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
2. "Sam Burns named Nicklaus Player of the Year". The Advocate. June 1, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
3. Casey, Kevin (March 16, 2017). "Sam Burns, Hannes Ronneblad highlight 2017 Palmer Cup selections". Golfweek. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
4. Lang III, Roy (July 23, 2017). "Sam Burns captures 6th place at Barbasol on PGA Tour". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
5. DiMeglio, Steve (October 24, 2017). "Dustin Johnson headlines strong field at WGC event in Shanghai". USA Today. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
6. Martin, Sean (December 29, 2017). "Players to Watch: No. 3, Sam Burns". PGA Tour. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
7. Herrington, Ryan (March 11, 2018). "Late stumble at Innisbrook puts Sam Burns' plans to join PGA Tour on hold ... for now". Golf Digest. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
8. Rabalais, Scott (April 1, 2018). "Former LSU golfer Sam Burns birdies final three holes for Web.com Tour victory, his first". The Advocate. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
9. "Meet The 50 newest PGA Tour members". PGA Tour. September 23, 2018.
10. Ferguson, Doug (May 2, 2021). "Sam Burns pulls away at Innisbrook, claims first PGA title". Associated Press. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
11. "K.H. Lee wins rainy Byron Nelson, earns PGA spot". ESPN.com. May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
12. "Sam Burns pulls away in Mississippi for 2nd PGA Tour win of the year". Sportsnet.ca. Associated Press. October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
13. Ferguson, Doug (March 20, 2022). "Burns repeats at Innisbrook after playoff win over Riley". Associated Press. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
14. Hawkins, Stephen (May 30, 2022). "Burns playoff birdie to beat No. 1 Scheffler at Colonial". Associated Press. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
15. Beall, Joel (September 25, 2022). "Presidents Cup 2022: Our grades for all 24 players, from an A+ for Spieth to an F for Scheffler". Golf Digest. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
16. Ferguson, Doug (March 26, 2023). "Sam Burns wins final Match Play in rout over Cameron Young". Associated Press News. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
17. "Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth headline Zach Johnson's U.S. Ryder Cup captain's picks". Golf Magazine. August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
18. Doering, Joshua (May 4, 2021). "Sam Burns wins first PGA Tour event while helping 'Fill the Stadium'". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
19. Athreya, Arjun (May 15, 2021). "Who Is Sam Burns' Wife? Meet His Childhood Sweetheart Caroline Campbell Burns". Retrieved November 10, 2021.
20. Rogers, Claire (August 20, 2024). "PGA Tour babies, Scheffler's sweet gesture, Schauffele's jokes". Golf Magazine. Retrieved January 5, 2025.

External links

• Sam Burns at the PGA Tour official site
• Sam Burns at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
• Profile on LSU's official athletic site