By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Choudrant resident Sam Burns has been fairly quiet recently on the PGA Tour after beginning 2024 with a sizzling start on the West Coast, but if he can rally today, he could be one of the big stories this weekend at The Masters.
Golf’s first major championship teed off behind schedule Thursday at Augusta National, delayed for nearly three hours by stormy weather that swept through the South over the last couple of days.
It resulted in nine three-man pairings, including those of Burns, Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka, unable to finish the opening round due to darkness. They will return to the course today at 7:51 EDT, then begin the second round later.
Burns stands at 3-over through 14 holes. He birdied Nos. 2 and 3, but had a double-bogey on the next hole and bogeyed Nos. 5, 10 and 11. He left a birdie putt a couple inches short on his final hole and will resume on the par-5 15th today, with four holes to finish in Round 1.
The top 50 players and ties in the 89-man field advance to weekend play. Early projections place the cut at 1-over.
It’s a 10:06 EDT second-round start for Burns, paired with 2013 Masters champ Adam Scott and Cameron Young, who Burns routed 6&5 to win the 2023 World Match Play Championship, the most recent of his five PGA Tour victories.
He had four Top 10 finishes in his first five starts this season during the Tour’s West Coast swing. Burns has banked $2.1 million in winnings this season and is almost to $24 million in his career since joining the PGA Tour in 2019.
As has been the case for the past two years in Augusta, Burns is sharing a rental house with his closest friend on tour, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Both are expecting their firstborns, and each have said if they get the call from their wives, they’ll drop out and head home.
That day is imminent for Burns, whose wife Caroline, like him a Shreveport native, is expected to give birth next week. Scheffler’s wife is due in three weeks but he, too, has made it clear he’s bolting for home if she calls.
Discarding that potential storyline, Burns was the off-the-radar pick to challenge for the win by CBS Sports golf analyst Patrick McDonald. Given 50-1 odds (everybody in the field but Scheffler is no better than 20-1), Burns earned McDonald’s endorsement with his early-season brilliance and his driving distance and putting accuracy.
Burns, who plays out of Squire Creek Country Club, is ninth on tour in putting average (1.70 per hole) and first in putts of three feet or less, making all 255 this year in his 21 rounds. He’s also third in accuracy on approaches from 125-150 yards, hitting it to an average of 19 feet, 9 inches. The former Calvary Baptist and LSU star is ninth in total driving and remains one of the game’s longest off the tee, while ranking second in birdie average (4.79 per 18 holes).
The 27-year-old is 22nd in the Official World Golf Rankings, coming off his first USA Ryder Cup appearance last year, and stands 24th in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings.
He was 29th at last year’s Masters after missing the cut in his first appearance in 2022.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com
