PINEHURST, N.C. — Choudrant resident Sam Burns posted the tournament field’s best final round score, a three-under-par 67, Sunday at the U.S. Open on the storied Pinehurst No. 2 course and charged to his first top 10 finish in one of golf’s major championships.
Burns, 27, who plays out of Squire Creek Country Club, finished in a three-way tie for ninth place and collected a $502,391 payday. His previous best U.S. Open finish was 27th in 2022, and his previous best major championship performance was 20th at the 2022 PGA Championship. He had missed cuts in the first two 2024 majors, The Masters and the PGA, but otherwise has had a strong 2024 season.
He climbed over the $25 million mark in career earnings and moved up to $3.6 million in purses won this season after his sixth top 10 finish of 2024, and 34th in his PGA Tour career since 2019 – including five wins.
Burns shot an opening 73, but rallied with a 67 Friday to make the cut. He carded another 73 Saturday but posted a bogey-free card Sunday, capping it with a 6-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.
His first two birdies came on the par-5 fifth hole, and the short par-4 13th.
The Shreveport native, who graduated from Calvary Baptist Academy and became a breakout college star at LSU, was the best in the field this week in sand saves (8-of-9) and shared the tournament lead with a strokes gained average of 4.78. He tied for second in putting (1.69 average per green).
A two-time All-American at LSU and the 2017 Jack Nicklaus Collegiate Division I Player of the Year, Burns is expected to play in the upcoming Travelers Championship, the last PGA Tour Signature Event of the season, this week in Hartford, Conn.
His wife Caroline, also a Shreveport native, and their one-month-old son Bear are on a three-week swing with the local pro, who certainly will treasure his first Father’s Day.
