By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Sam Burns’ plans for September became officially official Tuesday with the announcement of the USA roster for the Presidents Cup international matches in suburban Chicago at Medinah Country Club Sept. 24-27.
The 30-year-old Shreveport native, a Calvary Baptist product who won three state championships for the Cavaliers, likes the idea of playing in the Windy City.
“The experience in Chicago is going to be unbelievable,” he said. “The fans are going to be out in droves, and you’re going to see a lot of red, white and blue, and a lot of American flags. I think we can feed off their energy and hopefully, we give them a lot to cheer for.
“It’s hard to beat a Chicago environment for sports, so we’re all definitely looking forward to it,” he said in a Presidents Cup social media interview.
Burns was already slotted in as an automatic selection, standing fourth among the top six in Presidents Cup points accumulated since the start of the 2025 season. Tuesday, USA captain Brandt Snedeker added six more players to round out the dozen American golfers who will take on the International team.
Snedeker’s picks included three first-time participants in international play and notably, PGA Tour rookie Jackson Koivun, a 21-year-old Auburn product who has played in just seven Tour events after leading the Tigers to the NCAA championship in June. He won the 3M Classic in Minneapolis in his fourth start but is 66th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Snedeker announced Chris Gotterup, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Jacob Bridgeman and Koivun to join automatic qualifiers Burns, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa on the American squad.
It’s the fifth consecutive international competition, to go with two Ryder Cup outings, for Burns, who earned his third straight Presidents Cup spot and second as a qualifier. The USA is unbeaten in his Presidents Cup play but has dropped the last two Ryder Cups.
Burns was an underrated 0-3-2 in his Presidents Cup debut in 2022 as a qualifying pick, teamed with a then-struggling Scheffler. The two-time LSU All-American was 3-0-1 as a captain’s pick in 2024.
This season, the Choudrant resident has earned a career-high $9.4 million in official PGA Tour winnings while posting six top 10s – three in major championships — and four top 5s. He tied for fourth at the Memorial, was runner-up at the U.S. Open and third at the British Open, after a career-best seventh at The Masters. Burns ranked fourth on the Tour in strokes gained putting.
Medinah will become the only club in the world to have hosted a U.S. Open, a PGA Championship, a Ryder Cup and a Presidents Cup.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com