JOURNAL SPORTS
OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Sam Burns got the start he wanted Thursday in the second leg of the PGA Tour playoffs thanks to a very fine finish.
The former two-time LSU All-American fired a 182-yard strike to six feet on the tough par-4 18th at Caves Valley Golf Club and the tour’s No. 2-ranked putter polished off a closing birdie, posting a 2-under 68 that was good for a seventh-place tie in the field of 50 at the BMW Championship.
The 474-yard 18th was the fifth-toughest hole Thursday.
Burns notched two front-side birdies, at the par-5 fourth and the par-3 sixth, sinking a 9-footer on the second-toughest hole of the day to get to 2-under. The 29-year-old briefly moved into a tie for the lead at 3-under with a 25-foot, 6-inch birdie putt on the par-4 11th, but bogeyed two of the next three before his uplifting finish.
Scotsman Robert MacIntyre, who played a year collegiately at McNeese, shot a back-nine 29, carding birdies on seven of the last eight holes including the last six, to build a three-shot lead at 8-under 62.
Burns, a Shreveport native, rolled in 122 feet of putts in Round 1, fifth in the field. His 3.44 strokes gained putting was second. The Choudrant resident hit nine of 14 fairways, ranking in a tie for 18th I the field, and reached 12 of the 18 greens in regulation, ranking 13th.
Burns and Sungjae Im (+1, tied 24th) are the sixth pairing out this morning, going off at 9:16 CDT.
Television coverage today runs from 1-5 p.m. CDT on Golf Channel. Exclusive online coverage via PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ begins early this morning.
NBC will pick up primary weekend coverage.