BATON ROUGE–Former LSU Tiger, Sam Burns earned his first Ryder Cup win on Saturday afternoon in Rome, Italy at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Burns was paired with Colin Morikawa for the afternoon four-ball match against Viktor Hovland and Luis Aberg of the European team.
Burns and Morikawa earned the first USA win of the afternoon with a 4 & 3 decision over the Scandinavians to inch closer to a comeback over the leading European team. The European pair, Hovland and Aberg, won the morning match over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Kopeka with a 9 & 7 win. The win was the largest margin of defeat in Ryder Cup history.
The Shreveport native has come back strong after a 4 & 3 loss paired with friend Scottie Scheffler to Tyrell Hatton and John Rahm on Friday morning. Burns’ top-notch putting was on full display as he silenced the fiery European crowd with a three-foot putt on No. 6 to go 3 UP. Burns looked at the silent crowd and said, “I can’t hear you!”
The American teammates paired well together in their first time as teammates. Burns won four holes and Morikawa secured three for the U. S. The Americans will need more of the same if they want to have a chance on Sunday. The Europeans are currently up 9.5 to 4.5, with just 14.5 points needed to win the cup.
Sunday’s final day of competition will feature 12 one-on-one singles matches, all of which are worth a full point. If the Americans want to reclaim their trophy they’ll need to put together a historic Sunday charge.
The first singles match will get underway on Sunday at 4:35 a.m. CT, with the final match teeing off at 6:47 a.m. CT. NBC will provide TV coverage of Sunday’s matches at the Ryder Cup beginning at 4:30 a.m. CT. The final day will also be streamed live on Peacock. All matches are yet to be determined.
Sam Burns is set to face Rory McIlory at 5:11 a.m. on Sunday morning.