Sam Burns has been leading the Genesis Invitational since shooting a tournament-best 7-under 64 on Thursday.
He overcame windy conditions on Saturday and finished off a 74 on Sunday morning, the highest score of any player in the top 10, to claim a two-stroke lead.
Here are Five Things You Need to Know about the 24-year-old former LSU star from Shreveport, Louisiana, who is bidding for his debut victory on the PGA Tour.
Impressive pedigree
2014 AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year; a three-time state champion at Louisiana; All-American and Jack Nicklaus Award winner in 2016-17. He may not have grabbed the headlines as quickly as Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff but he’s got game and he’s definitely been “trending.”
Keeping a level head
How does Burns, who qualified for the 2016 U.S. Open as an amateur, keep a level head on a tough course playing under tough conditions?
“I think growing up with older siblings I was forced to be that way just because I couldn’t overpower them, I couldn’t really do what I wanted to do,” he said on Friday. “I know a golf course like this, when you kind of run hot around here and start getting a little hot emotion, it definitely doesn’t help.”
Holding a lead
Burns held a share of the 54-hole lead in Houston, but shot 72 on Sunday and finished T-7. Burns has struggled in the final round, shooting in the 70s in five of his seven final rounds for an average score of 70.57, nearly two strokes higher than his Thursday-Friday scoring average. Still, he’s confident his time will come.
Genesis Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos | How to watch
“Comparison is kind of the thief of joy. I try to stay as far away from that as possible,” he said. “There’s no timeline for me.”
Inspired by a major champion
Burns grew up pals with Carter Toms, son of 2001 PGA Championship winner David Toms.
“He’s spent a lot of time around the house, gone on vacations with us, played a lot of PlayStation upstairs,” David Toms recalled to PGA Tour.com in 2019. “Just watched them grow up – and watched him become a great golfer.”
For Burns, that included joining the Toms family on a trip to Fort Worth, Texas, and witnessing the 13-time PGA Tour winner’s final victory in person at the 2011 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club. “One of the things I remember was I was watching when he holed the wedge for eagle. That was pretty cool to see,” he said. “And I just remember everybody was really excited to watch and, you know, as a 14-year-old kid watching any PGA Tour player, much less a guy that you knew, in contention that it was just a really special moment.”
Might that be a memory that Burns tries to tap into on Sunday?
Dueling with Tiger
In the final round of the 2018 Honda Classic, Burns, 21 at the time, drew Woods in his final round pairing. When asked if he had ever played with Woods, his childhood favorite, Burns answered, “Only on the video game.” He even had the chutzpah to say to Woods as they walked off the first tee, “Man, it’s crazy all these people who came out to watch me today, isn’t it?”
That wasn’t the only burn from Burns. He beat Woods straight up, shooting a bogey-free 68 to Tiger’s 70. If he can shoot another number like that this Sunday with Dustin Johnson and others breathing down his neck, Burns likely will be handed the Genesis Invitational trophy by none other than tournament host, Tiger Woods.