Sam Burns hits his tee shot off of the 7th tee during the third round of the 2023 BMW Championship. | Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Burns matched Homa’s Olympia Fields course record Saturday, vaulting him up the BMW Championship leaderboard and into Ryder Cup contention.
After opening the BMW Championship with two disappointing rounds, Sam Burns shot his lowest round of the season Saturday, an 8-under 62.
It also tied the course record at Olympia Fields, which Max Homa set the day before.
Burns was 1-over par entering the day, 11 shots back of Homa, who held the 36-hole lead by himself.
“I think the first couple days, I feel like I was playing okay,” Burns admitted after his round. “Just not really getting a lot out of what I was doing out there.”
He played better than ‘okay’ Saturday. He not only vaulted up the leaderboard at the BMW Championship but also entered the Ryder Cup discussion.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Sam Burns plays his second shot at the 15th hole during the third round of the 2023 BMW Championship.
“Honestly, every week, I try to come out here and prepare as hard as I can and do everything I can to play my best,” Burns said.
“At the end of the day, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to make the Ryder Cup. I want nothing more. But that’s a goal that’s kind of different than coming out here and playing golf. I think for me, just trying to put a good game plan together and just try and execute.
If Burns goes on to win the BMW Championship, he will pass Brooks Koepka in the FedEx Cup standings and earn an automatic spot on the U.S. Team.
Koepka would then be on the bubble, in sixth place in the Ryder Cup standings. The top six earn automatic berths. However, Max Homa, Xander Schauffele and a host of others can also pass Koepka this weekend.
Whether captain Zach Johnson will pick a LIV Golfer with a captain’s pick remains to be seen.
Yet, if Burns does make the Ryder Cup team, it would be an incredible accomplishment for the former LSU Tiger. The 27-year-old has never donned the stars and stripes in a Ryder Cup before, but he did help the Americans win the 2022 President’s Cup at Quail Hollow.
“Whatever happens, I know the Lord has already planned it out, and I can be good with whatever happens,” Burns said. “A lot of it’s out of my control. The only thing I can do is go out there and play hard and compete. At the end of the day, whatever happens, I can be okay with it.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
