Sam Burns cards career-low 61 to lead The American Express
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LA QUINTA, Calif. – Sam Burns has never shot 59, though he’s nearly joined that elusive club twice this week.
After shooting 60 on Tuesday in a pre-tournament warmup at The Madison Club, a nearby La Quinta club, Burns carded a career-best 61 in the second round at PGA WEST’s Nicklaus Tournament Course. He is 17-under and the solo leader through 36 holes at The American Express.
That’ll do, even if Burns will only take credit for one of the rounds.
“Tuesday was from the up tees, so it doesn’t count,” he said.
Friday’s round certainly does. It tied for the lowest score at the Nicklaus Tournament Course in tournament history and marked the week's lowest score. It also vaulted Burns into the lead alone. It’s his best career round on the PGA TOUR, surpassing a third-round 62 at the 2023 BMW Championship.
Sam Burns' interview after Round 2 of The American Express
A win at The American Express this week would make it four straight seasons with at least one PGA TOUR victory. He set career-bests in earnings ($7.14 million) and FedExCup finish (ninth) last year. Burns has three top-20s in four previous starts at The American Express. He shot a final-round 63 to finish T6 in 2020. That was his best score until Friday.
An eagle on the par-5 fourth jumpstarted the round after pars on the first three holes. Burns stuck his approach on the fourth to within 15 feet and drained the putt for eagle. He added birdies on Nos. 5, 6 and 7 to make the turn in 5-under 31. An eagle similarly sparked his back nine.
After parring the 10th, Burns flagged his approach on the par-5 11th and left himself with a 3-footer for eagle. From there, he birdied four consecutive holes (Nos. 13-16), the longest streak of his career, to set up a chance at 59.
That was the first time shooting sub-60 entered his mind, Burns said. But he managed only a par on the par-3 17th, missing a 30-footer for birdie. Needing a hole-out on the last hole, Burns pulled his approach with a wedge and two-putted to post 61.
“Overall, just a really solid day. I hit a lot of quality shots and was able to make some putts,” said Burns, who finished T33 in his season debut at The Sentry.
Burns felt his game come together over the weekend, arriving to California early to get some work in with his swing coach Brad Pullin. Now he’s got the results to match.