Sam Burns battles into contention after awkward bunker ruling

GULLANE, Scotland — The pot bunker is a well-known feature across all of links golf and Sam Burns fell victim to the tiny traps that have claimed many golfers before him and will continue to for as long as golf is played.

In the third round of the Genesis Scottish Open Burns found the sand with his tee shot at the par-5 10th at The Renaissance Club. In an attempt to escape and position himself back in play his second shot drilled the classic riveted face, popping out of its embed mark and somehow finished, defying gravity, on the edge of the also vertical bunker face.

The question though which had Burns, his playing partners Byeong Hun An and Brian Harman, as well as multiple rules officials from the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour trying to figure out, was whether the top layer of sod that lined the top of the bunker would interfere with the five-time TOUR winner’s intended swing.

Ultimately, it was decided that the top layer of sod was still part of the bunker resulting in no relief for the 26-year-old.

After the ruling, Burns attempted to hit from the difficult position but the ball tumbled back into the bunker behind him. It would take three shots to get out of the sand and he would go on to make a triple-bogey 8. He proceeded to recover with two birdies on the back nine to post a 1-over 71, finishing 6 strokes off the lead going into Sunday.