By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
ST. LOUIS – For the first time in three months, former two-time LSU All-American Sam Burns was not in contention at any point of this weekend’s PGA Tour stop.
But he already had his ticket punched for the upcoming Tour Championship in Atlanta when he teed off Thursday morning in the BMW Championship, the middle leg of the three-week FedEx Cup playoff series.
He entered the week in sixth place in the Cup standings, and dipped only two spots to eighth among the top 30 Tour performers who have qualified to play beginning Thursday at East Lake. At stake: by far the biggest payouts of the season, a $40 million purse with $10 million going to the winner. All 30 have earned a two-year PGA Tour exemption and slots into all of the 2027 majors. They already locked up spots into next year’s signature events, those with the highest purses.
Sunday, Burns finished the BMW in a tie for 28th in the field of 50 qualifiers, carding a 3-under (71-67-68-71 – 277) in his lowest finish since May 10, when he was 37th at the Truist Championship.
Since then, over nine events, the Choudrant resident has been in eight tournaments with six finishes in the top 20, including four top fives in a six-stop stretch from June 7 (fourth at The Memorial) to Aug. 16 (third at the FedEx St. Jude Championship).
Burns collected a $153,000 payout for his week in St. Louis, raising his career-best season official winnings to $8.9 million.
Wyndham Clark, Burns’ playing partner in the first two rounds, won this week’s event at 17-under, opening with a pair of 64s on Thursday and Friday.
Burns, a Shreveport native, stands at seventh in the Official World Golf Rankings and is fourth in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings, with the top six finishers getting automatic berths on the team.
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