By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
NEWTON SQUARE, Pa. – Among professional golf’s four majors, the PGA Championship is the one with Louisiana flavor.
Sam Burns would love to spice that up this weekend at Aronimink Golf Club in the 108th renewal of the event.
Four Louisiana golfers have captured PGA Championship titles: Shreveport-Bossier’s David Toms (2001), Shreveporter Hal Sutton (1983), and Lafayette’s Hebert brothers, Lionel (1957) and Jay (1960).
Burns has put together his best finishes and rounds in major championships last year and in this year’s Masters, where he tied for seventh at 9-under par. He tied for 19th in last year’s PGA Championship, then held the lead during the weekend and onto the back nine Sunday at the U.S. Open before mishaps in heavy rain left him tied for seventh. He was 45th at the British Open, where his best finish is 31st in 2024.
The eight-year PGA Tour veteran, who has over $37 million in career earnings and five tournament titles highlighted by the 2023 World Match Play crown, embraces the opportunities major championships present.
“As a competitor, those weeks typically have the best fields and are the hardest weeks to win. It’s what we gear up for,” he said in a recent interview on SI.com’s Dan Evans Show. “With the majors, you only have four cracks a year, so it’s those weeks you look forward to, and try to gauge your schedule around so hopefully you’re playing well at those times.”
Burns, a 29-year-old Shreveport native who now lives in Choudrant and plays out of Squire Creek Country Club, is in one of the featured threesomes teeing off in Rounds 1 and 2 today and Friday on the 7,394-yard, par-70 layout just outside of Philadelphia.
His playing partners are both major champions – Gary Woodland (2019 U.S. Open) and Jason Day (2015 PGA). Golf Magazine’s Golf.com analysts have listed the threesome as one of the 10 “best groupings” for the first 36 holes. Woodland is 23rd in current year purse winnings at $3.1 million, while Burns is 35th ($2.4 million) and Day is 49th ($1.8 million).
Burns (35th) is highest among his partners in the Official World Golf Rankings, with Woodland at 47th and Day at 41st. The PGA Championship annually claims it has the strongest field in pro golf, and 97 of the OWGR top 100 are teeing off this week.
Burns’ group will go off the 10th tee this morning at 6:34 CDT, and Friday start on the first tee at 11:59 CDT in pursuit of the Wanamaker Trophy that goes to the PGA winner.
Burns has two top 10 finishes and six in the top 25 this season. He fired a 64, his second-lowest round of the year, Sunday in Charlotte, N.C., in his latest round at the Truist Championship.
American players have won the last 10 PGA Championships. Burns’ good friend Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked player, is the defending champion.
Television coverage begins with streaming on ESPN+ this morning and Friday morning from 6-11 CDT, with ESPN picking it up from 11-6. Weekend coverage is on ESPN in the mornings for the final two rounds and CBS has the contenders playing in its broadcast window from noon-6 Saturday and Sunday.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com