Sam Burns catches Ryder Cup captain’s attention with a fiery US Open outing
Sam Burns emerged as the US Open leader heading into the weekend. The 28-year-old outscored J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin and several others with an impressive five-under 65 to seize the lead on three under. Notably, the round caught US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley’s attention on Friday.
Burns’ big round saw him become one of only three on the 156-player field to sit under par mid-way through the Oakmont contest. The five-time PGA Tour winner poured in over 102 feet of putts, including that clutch par save on the par-4 ninth, inspired Bradley to call him a “great player.” The US team skipper admitted to watching Burns play the morning round on Friday and lauded his ‘US Open mentality.’
The Ryder Cup skipper, who could have Burns take a place in his team for the contest at Bethpage, said he was “glad” to see the latter in contention at Oakmont.
Replying to a media query on whether Sam Burns could record a 65 this weekend, Keegan Bradley said, as quoted by ASAP Sports:
“If it rains maybe, but I was so glad to see Sam Burns up there. He's such a great player, and he's been trending. Every time I play with him, he seems to have a US Open mentality. I was watching him this morning, and I just kept saying, it looks like he's up for the challenge today, and he was.”
Sam Burns’ Ryder Cup position explored
Sam Burns sat 15th on the Ryder Cup US team rankings ahead of the US Open. The ace golfer, up by nine places in the list after a strong showing at the RBC Canadian Open, stands nine places off the top six automatic qualification spots. He has players like J.J. Spaun, Harris English and Ben Griffin in contention.
For the unversed, Sam Burns’ strong season in 2023, which included a win at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, saw him land a place in the Ryder Cup side that year. The five-time PGA Tour winner was selected as one of Zach Johnson's six captain's picks for the contest at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy.
He made a decent debut in the prestigious team contest in September 2023. However, he couldn’t help his side to a victory as Luke Donald’s European team won 16.5 –11.5 as Burns went 1–2–0. He also faced a loss in his Sunday singles match against Rory McIlroy.
It is pertinent to note that this wasn’t Burns’ first team event experience. The Louisiana native qualified for the US team at the 2022 Presidents Cup, where he tied two and lost three in five matches. He also made the 2024 team as one of captain Jim Fruyk's picks. He went winless in the contest as his side lifted the trophy.
Now, Burns will be eyeing to extend his strong PGA Tour season start till BMW Championship and in turn, land another Ryder Cup team spot.