Sam Burns

Samuel Holland Burns (born July 23, 1996) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He played his college golf at Louisiana State University. He has won five times on the PGA Tour.

Burns was born in Shreveport, Louisiana to Todd and Beth Burns. During his prep career at Calvary Baptist Academy, he was a three-time individual state champion. He was named AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 2014, a year where he won the Rolex Tournament of Champions in June, the Junior PGA Championship in August, and was on the victorious United States Junior Ryder Cup team. Burns played in his first PGA Tour event at the 2015 Valero Texas Open after receiving an exemption into the tournament following his Junior PGA Championship win in the previous year. He shot a first round 89 on a day where winds gusted to 45 MPH. Burns missed the cut and finished the tournament 22 over par. Burns played college golf at Louisiana State University, where he won four tournaments in 15 collegiate starts during his sophomore season. He was named a first-team All-American and was the NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year for the 2016–17 season. Burns represented the United States on the winning 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup team and he qualified for the PGA Tour's 2017 Barbasol Championship, where he finished T6.

In October 2017, Burns made his PGA Tour debut as a professional at the Sanderson Farms Championship. After finishing T43, he played a week later at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and finished T20. Burns earned guaranteed starts for the first 12 Web.com Tour events of the 2018 season with his T10 finish at the final stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament. He finished T2 at the Colombia Championship in February 2018. Burns finished T7 at the Honda Classic with Tiger Woods as his playing partner in the final round, earning Burns entry into the Valspar Championship, where he finished T12. Burns earned his first professional win at the 2018 Savannah Golf Championship on the Web.com Tour when he birdied each of the final three holes to defeat Roberto Castro by one stroke. He gained a place on the PGA Tour at the end of the 2018 Web.com season.

Burns has played on the PGA Tour since the start of the 2018–19 season. In February 2021, he finished solo third place at the Genesis Invitational, one shot outside of the playoff with Tony Finau and Max Homa, Homa being the eventual winner. Burns held the solo lead at the end of each of the first three rounds but was ultimately caught on the back 9 during the final round. In May, Burns won the Valspar Championship for his first PGA Tour victory. Burns shot a final round 68 to win by three strokes over Keegan Bradley. Two weeks later Burns finished runner-up to K.H. Lee at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

On October 3, 2021, Burns won his second PGA Tour title at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. On March 20, 2022, Burns won his second consecutive Valspar Championship title, beating Davis Riley in a playoff. On May 29, 2022, Burns won the Charles Schwab Challenge after making a 38-foot birdie putt in a playoff against Scottie Scheffler. Burns overcame a seven stroke deficit to win, matching Nick Price in 1994 for largest comeback in a final round to win at Colonial Country Club.

Burns qualified for the U.S. team at the 2022 Presidents Cup; he tied two and lost three of the five matches he played.

In March 2023, Burns won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, defeating Cameron Young 6 and 5 in the championship match.

Burns was selected as one of Zach Johnson's six captain's picks for the 2023 Ryder Cup, which would mark Burns's first appearance in the event.

In September 2023, Burns played on the U.S. team in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia, Rome, Italy. The European team won 16.5–11.5 and Burns went 1–2–0 including a loss in his Sunday singles match against Rory McIlroy.

In June 2025, Burns was runner-up at the RBC Canadian Open, losing in a playoff to Ryan Fox. The following week, Burns held the 54-hole lead at the 2025 U.S. Open. He shot an 8-over 78 in the final round to finish tied-7th.

Burns is a Christian. He is married to Caroline Burns. They welcomed their first child, a son named Bear, in 2024.

Burns has been a supporter of Compassion International's "Fill the Stadium" initiative, an initiative "which seeks to provide food, medical supplies and other forms of support to children and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic."

• 2014 AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions, Junior PGA Championship
• 2016 David Toms Intercollegiate, Sun Bowl Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic
• 2017 Louisiana Classics, NCAA Baton Rouge Regional

PGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

WD = withdrew

NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

• Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2024 U.S. Open – 2025 Open Championship, current)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

1Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic

"T" = Tied

NT = No tournament

Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.

Amateur

• Junior Ryder Cup: 2014 (winners)
• Arnold Palmer Cup: 2017 (winners)

Professional

• Presidents Cup: 2022 (winners), 2024 (winners)

• Ryder Cup: 2023, 2025

• 2018 Web.com Tour Finals graduates

• Sam Burns at the PGA Tour official site

• Sam Burns at the Official World Golf Ranking official site

• Profile on LSU's official athletic site Archived February 26, 2018, at the Wayback Machine