JOURNAL SPORTS
Shreveport native and Calvary Baptist graduate Sam Burns finished strongly on the PGA Tour in the last two weeks, strengthening his bid for one of the six at-large spots on the United States Ryder Cup Team to be announced this morning.
Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson will make his decision public today from Frisco, Texas, at the new home of the PGA of America in a show airing on multiple platforms, including Golf Channel, from 9-10 a.m. CST.
The 12-player team will represent America at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome Sept. 29-Oct. 1. The USA will try to win on European soil for the first time since 1993.
Six players were automatic selections based on their top-ranked performance during the 2022-23 PGA Tour season. Johnson will name the other six this morning.
Burns finished with the fourth-best score (by actual strokes) in Atlanta at last week’s Tour Championship, a week after a 15th-place tie in the BMW Championship semifinal round in Chicago.
The former LSU All-American picked up his fifth PGA Tour triumph in March by taking the World Golf Championship Dell Match Play crown in Austin. He is one of the best putters on the tour, ranking 11th in strokes gained putting.
Among other players in contention for the six at-large slots are Keegan Bradley, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Jordan Speith, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Denny McCarthy, Lucas Glover and Cameron Young.
Burns would be a Ryder Cup rookie, but acquitted himself well on the USA’s President’s Cup Team in 2022.
