By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
President Trump and Sam Burns, figuratively speaking, will probably arrive at the 45th Ryder Cup competition about the same time today.
The president is expected at Bethpage Black on Long Island outside of New York City in time to watch the afternoon four-ball session between four teams from the USA and Europe.
Burns will not play in the opening early-morning session of foursomes (alternate shot), but most expect him to be announced late morning as part of an American duo teeing it up in the second round of the day.
The 29-year-old Choudrant resident, who plays out of Squire Creek Country Club, was left off the starting lineup for morning foursome (alternate shot) action by USA captain Keegan Bradley when this morning’s four matches were unveiled Thursday afternoon. Bradley said the lineup was set a while ago and was no secret among his team, and that pairings for ensuing rounds were already established. Those might be adjusted, but Bradley said he wants to proceed “according to plan.”
Burns and the other players were not available to media after the mid-afternoon pairings announcement. But earlier Thursday, he was bursting with pride about President Trump’s visit today and a massive charitable gift he will direct back home.
“It’s a huge honor to have our president come to this event, support our team,” said Burns. “This is about representing the United States of America, and who better to represent that than our president. I think we are all excited.”
He was also excited discussing about how he will collect a half-million dollars this weekend earmarked for the folks back home. All 12 USA team members will get $500,000 to allocate as they choose to charitable causes, a stipend increased by $300,000 since the 2023 Ryder Cup.
“I’m extremely grateful the PGA of America is doing this. I live in a small town in Louisiana and that amount of money in that community for those charities is going to go a long ways,” said Burns in his media session Thursday morning. “It’s going to have a huge impact on our community and I’m just extremely grateful.
“To steward that money in our own communities at home – that’s a great thing,” he said.
But his main focus is doing what he’s done in two President’s Cup competitions as a pro, and two other international matches in his days at Calvary Baptist (2014 Junior Ryder Cup) and LSU (2017 Arnold Palmer Cup). Burns is in it to win it for America.
That did not happen in his first Ryder Cup appearance in 2023 at Rome. Burns went 1-2 over the weekend in Italy, but his victory, paired with Collin Morikawa in four-ball play Saturday afternoon, rekindled American optimism. They rolled 4&3 over Viktor Hovlad and Ludvig Aberg, who had routed two other USA duos, notably the power tandem of Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
It was only a temporary surge for the Americans, who were whipped 16 ½ – 11 ½. That outcome is on the minds of Bradley and his team, determined to prevail on home turf against a European roster that has all but one player and captain Luke Donald back from 2023.
“Losing is never fun. It doesn’t matter what sport or what game, whatever it is you know losing sucks,” said Burns. “We want to use those memories as fuel this week. Everyone that was on that team or watched vividly remembers what that feels like. You don’t want that feeling again.”
Today’s play will be carried on USA Network. NBC picks up coverage Saturday starting at 6 a.m. CT for two more rounds of foursome and four-ball action, and Sunday’s 12 singles matches slated to begin at 11 a.m.
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Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com
