JOURNAL SPORTS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – If at the start of the opening round of the PGA Championship, you were told Shreveport native Sam Burns would finish ahead of Masters champion Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Shane Lowry and Max Homa, you’d feel great about Burns’ first 18 holes.
Burns is in front of those luminaries of the game, and other big names, but they all struggled on a soggy Quail Hollow course Thursday. Burns finished at 3-over 74, tied with among others, Day, Homa, Lowry, and Rickie Fowler. One shot back at 75 were McIlroy and Koepka, both multiple majors winners.
Spieth and Rose are among those sitting at five-over 76, which is 12 shots back of unlikely Round 1 pacesetter Jhonattan Vegas at 7-under 64.
Burns tees off at 1:22 CDT today looking for better play off the tee (he ranked 132nd in the 155-player field) and on approach shots (142nd), while trying to maintain his season-long excellence on the greens (he leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting, and ranked 16th in the first round in distance of made putts at 100 feet, 11 inches). He also was strong in “around the green” play, 17th best in the field.
The Calvary Baptist product and former two-time LSU All-American, now a resident of Choudrant in Lincoln Parish where he plays out of Squire Creek Country Club, made four birdies but six bogies Thursday.
He started fast, getting to three under in his first six holes with birdies on Nos. 10, 12 and 15 as his threesome teed off on the back nine. But trouble developed at the turn with three straight bogeys on Nos. 17, 18 and 1, with three more at holes 3, 6 and 9. Burns carded a birdie at No. 7, his 16th hole of the morning.
He will go out again with fellow Americans Akshay Bhatia and Denny McCarthy. After today’s round, the field will be reduced to the top 70 and ties. Burns begins Round 2 tied for 73rd.
Streaming and television coverage will be exclusively on ESPN today with the main broadcast on ESPN+ from 6- 11 a.m. ESPN will then have the coverage on ESPN during Burns’ round.
Saturday and Sunday the streaming broadcast will begin on ESPN+ from 7-9 a.m. with ESPN on air from 9-noon. CBS Sports will have the complete coverage from noon to 6 p.m. both days.
ESPN+ will also have four feature group pairings each day as well as feature hole coverage all four days.