BATON ROUGE – Former LSU golf standout and Louisiana native, Sam Burns, is set to tee off at Pinehurst No. 2 on Thursday for the 124th U.S. Open.
The former All-American and 2017 National Player of the Year will tee off at 7:18 a.m. CT alongside Lucas Glover and Cameron Smith. Burns’ last time in the winner’s circle was in 2023 at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event where he prevailed over PGA tour standout Cameron Young in a playoff.
Burns on the course
Burns has put together a solid campaign in 2024 with top ten finishes at the American Express in La Quinta, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, WM Phoenix Open, and Genesis Invitational. The 5 time tour winner has played fourteen events and made eleven cuts in 2024 while racking up approximately $3.1 million in earnings this season. In Burns’ most recent outing, he finished T15 at the Memorial Tournament where he shot an impressive score of 7-under 65 in the opening round.
Burns will be looking to win his first major this weekend in a stacked field of golfers. The former Tiger will be taking on the monster of a course that is Pinehurst No. 2. With lightning quick greens and unforgiving hazards, the best players in the world will have to put their best game on the course to have a shot at raising the trophy. Burns’ last two US Opens have resulted in two top 35 finishes, with a T27 finish in 2022 and a T32 finish in 2023.
The 27-year-old is the 27th ranked golfer in the world and currently holds 31st place in the FedEx Cup. Burns is also 23rd in total strokes gained on tour with an average of 0.807 and 54th in putting strokes gained with an average of 0.219. Burns is scoring well this year as he is currently 31st on tour in scoring average with an impressive tally of 69.80. Another notable statistic in the Shreveport product’s game is his birdie average of 4.29 per round which is ranked tenth on tour currently.
Tigers at the US Open
No Tiger has ever won the US Open, but many have been in contention and finished inside of the top ten. LSU has produced six different golfers who have finished top ten at the US Open, and have a total tally of ten top ten finishes. The best placement in that list belongs to both David Toms and John Peterson, who both finished T4 in 2012. Toms would go on to finish inside the top five at the US Open twice more in both 2003 and 2007. Burns will look to be the first LSU Tiger to take the crown at the US Open and make history for the Bayou Bengals.
Burns at LSU
Burns played two seasons with the Tigers before electing to turn professional following his sophomore season in the summer of 2017. Burns finished his career with a 71.13 scoring average in 27 tournament appearances and set LSU’s single-season scoring record with a career-low 70.05 stroke average as a sophomore in 2016-17. Burns was named the NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year and a PING First-Team All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America. He was also named the SEC Player of the Year and a First-Team All-SEC selection in 2017. He is a two-time All-American and also earned PING Honorable Mention All-America honors as a freshman in 2015-16.
How to Watch
Both NBC and the USA Network will share coverage of the tournament on TV, while Peacock TV will be the online streaming option for viewers.
Here’s the full U.S. Open TV schedule (all times CT):
Thursday, June 13: 5:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (USA)
Friday, June 14: Noon-6 p.m. (NBC)
Saturday, June 15: 9-11 a.m. (USA); 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (NBC)
Sunday, June 16: 8-11 a.m. (USA); 11-6 p.m. (NBC)