Burgoon shoots opening-round 64, provides contrast to hype of young stars

CROMWELL, Conn. – Before there was Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Suh with their high-profile layers of glitzy collegiate golf success, there was a 120-yard gap wedge shot from rough that cut through heavy air and came to rest 3 inches from the cup at the most crucial of times.

It won the 2009 NCAA Championship.

“That was the best experience. No one is going to top that, in my opinion,” said Bronson Burgoon, the man who produced that scintillating drama at The Inverness Club 10 years ago. All square in his match against Andrew Landry, but seemingly in a dire predicament at the 18th hole, Burgoon set up the improbable tap-in birdie to give Texas A&M the title with a 3-2 win over Arkansas.

“Winning a national championship is one thing,” sad Burgoon. “But the way in which we did it was pretty cool.”

It was the indelible memory of that shot that had Burgoon smiling, though truth be told, he was also quite pleased with a bogey-free, 6-under 64 at TPC River Highlands that got his Travelers Championship off to a rousing start. Tied with Ryan Armour for the best morning score at a cozy, 6,841-yard golf course saturated by rain, Burgoon appreciated that he stands in contrast to the hype and excitement that ushered that impressive quartet of collegiate stars into this week’s tournament.

“They’re obviously world-class players,” said Burgoon. “But it is tough out here. If you don’t play good golf, you’re not going to do well. Plain and simple.”

Burgoon can identify with the college joy that Hovland, Wolff, Morikawa and Suh are still riding, but his ride onto the PGA TOUR was nothing like theirs. Instead, Burgoon didn’t make it out onto the PGA TOUR until 2016 and he still is fighting to establish himself. It’s just his third full season out here and this week Burgoon is playing in just his 68th PGA TOUR tournament.

At 32, he is still in search of answers.

“It’s been a tough year for me,” said Burgoon, who did finish T-2 in Malaysia in the fall but has missed the cut in 10 of his 14 starts. “But it is what it is. You’ve got to pick yourself up and keep going.”

Which Burgoon has seemingly done well on various occasions.

He smiled and agreed with that assessment. “My whole golf career has been an uphill battle, honestly. I feel like I’ve made golf a little more complicated than it should be,” said Burgoon. “I’m trying to simply things and get my mind where I can compete.

“One thing I can do is compete.”

Those competitive embers will need to be stoked the next few days, because Burgoon has gotten off to a sizzling start at crunch time. Sitting 140th in the FedExCup standings late in the season, he knows he must make a push. It’s not getting any easier and youngsters like Hovland, Wolff, Morikawa and Suh are hungry to prove themselves, hardly in awe of the competition.

It’s the nature of the business and it’s what Burgoon loves about professional golf. There is a camaraderie, yet it is a solitary pursuit, which is something these youngsters will soon realize. “Everybody’s out here doing what they need to do to try and get and better,” said Burgoon. “Nobody’s going to feel bad for you.”

Certainly, Burgoon doesn’t feel bad for himself. Not when he embraces a college memory that will last a lifetime. And not when he points to “my wife (Katy) and my family, who do a very good job of keeping me grounded.”

On this day, when finally for the first time since March he posted a red score in Round 1, Burgoon smiled and explained what his family’s support means to him. “There’s a life outside of professional golf scene. I try not to let golf rule my life.”