Sam Burns’ lack of expectation working in is favour
Sam Burns on his way to a record-equaling round of 62 today – image R&A via Getty
American Sam Burns grabbed the third-round lead at the Open Championship, his round of 65 today coming on top of his record-equaling 62 yesterday and moving him past the then-leader, New Zealander Ryan Fox, and Australian Lucas Herbert, and eventually, as Herbert dropped shots late, taking a two-shot lead into tomorrow’s final round at Royal Birkdale.
Si Woo Kim, who was playing in the group ahead of Burns, finished at 8 under after his round of 67 to join New Zealand’s Ryan Fox in a share of second place, Fox finishing five hours earlier with his stunning round of 62 to take the lead at that point with Herbert.
Herbert, who had moved into the lead at 9 under with an outward nine of 33, bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes and was unable to capitalise on the reachable par 5 17th after taking a penalty drop. Although he saved his par, he remained at 7 under and is now three from the lead and in a share of 4th place with American Ryan Gerrard.
29-year-old Burns, whose form in recent weeks has included a runner-up finish at the US Open, is a four-time PGA Tour winner and long considered a future major winner. In five previous appearances at the Open Championship, he has failed to record a top 30 finish, however, so this week’s performance is a turnaround in his mindset and suggested his efforts thus far might well have been attributable to the distractions and lack of expectations he carried due to a family occasion.
“I think I’ve said this to someone earlier: this golf tournament was honestly so far off of my radar and expectations of playing,” said Burns. “I mean, Caroline’s due date was Tuesday this week. She was like four days late with our son. I just didn’t think there was any possible way, and little Belle had different plans for us.
“Even after she was born, after a couple of days, I wasn’t thinking much about it. Caroline was kind of like, so what are you thinking for next week? I was like, I don’t know. Should we talk about it? She was like, yeah.
“Ultimately, she’s the one who really encouraged me to come over and play. She basically said I’ve got this at home. Go over there and give it your best, and here we are.”
By the turn and despite a bogey at the 9th, Burns was at 8 under par and had joined Fox, Herbert and Si Woo Kim in the lead at 8 under, but bogeys at the 14th and 17th moved him two clear, and, tomorrow, he and Ryan Fox will tee it up at 2.20 pm in the final group as both chase their first major championship.
If scoring this week has been any indication, however, close to twenty golfers probably feel they are just one very low round away from contending and possibly winning, so tomorrow poses plenty of scenarios.
Only one golfer (Bryson DeChambeau) inside the top ten at present has been a previous major championship winner, so the manner in which the leaders handle what could well be their greatest moment in the game will tell the story as to who is holding the Claret Jug at day’s end.
DeChambeau’s round came under even greater scrutiny than normal as a result of the controversial two shot penalty applied to his second round but, although he made a shaky start with a bogey at the first, he fought back late in the day for a round of 69 and, just four shots from Burns and just two shots out of second place, he retains the chance of what would be an undoubtedly satisfying win for him.
The two-shot penalty DeChambeau received might well be the difference between winning and losing, and adding a third major championship to his two US Open Championship titles. Interestingly and cleverly, Burns deflected any concerns about the environment he played in today while partnered with DeChambeau.
“I thought the fans were very supportive of Bryson today,” added the leader. “We didn’t discuss it any.
“In my personal opinion, I honestly feel bad for Bryson in the situation that he was in. From my perspective, I didn’t feel like maybe there was enough evidence for him to deserve a penalty there.
“I feel bad for him. I think he played an incredible round of golf late yesterday, and it’s unfortunate to have something kind of like that where they come in after your round and tell you you’re being docked two shots.
“But props to him. He came out and played a really nice round of golf today, and that takes a lot of grit to be able to come out and do that. So I was impressed.”
New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori is tied for 11th at 4 under par along with, amongst others, Australian Open Championship debutante Cameron John.
Adam Scott is in 38th place and Min Woo Lee 64th.
