Sam Burns Bio
Samuel Holland Burns (born July 23, 1996) is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour. A native of Louisiana, he played his college golf at Louisiana State University and has established himself as one of the steady American performers of his generation. He has won five times on the PGA Tour, including a World Golf Championships title, and has represented the United States in both the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup.
Early Life and Background
Samuel Holland Burns was born on July 23, 1996, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Todd and Beth Burns. He grew up in Louisiana and attended Calvary Baptist Academy, where he built the foundation of his golf game. During his prep career at Calvary Baptist, Burns was a three-time individual state champion, an early sign of the consistency that would later define his professional career.
His junior career quickly moved beyond state borders. In 2014, Burns was named AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year after a season in which he won the Rolex Tournament of Champions in June and the Junior PGA Championship in August. He was also a member of the victorious United States Junior Ryder Cup team that year. The Junior PGA Championship win also earned him a sponsor exemption into the 2015 Valero Texas Open on the PGA Tour, where he made his first professional-level start and finished 22 over par after missing the cut.
Path to Golf
Burns took his game to Louisiana State University, where he became one of the top college players in the country. During his sophomore season, he won four tournaments in 15 collegiate starts and was named a first-team All-American. He was also recognized as the NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year for the 2016–17 season, one of the highest honors in American amateur golf.
He represented the United States on the winning 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup team and used that momentum to qualify for the PGA Tour’s 2017 Barbasol Championship, where he finished T6 in another early professional-level test. These amateur results convinced Burns to turn professional, and in October 2017 he made his PGA Tour debut at the Sanderson Farms Championship, finishing T43.
Sam Burns Career
Early Career (2017–2018)
Following his PGA Tour debut at the 2017 Sanderson Farms Championship, Burns earned guaranteed starts for the first 12 Web.com Tour events of the 2018 season by posting a T10 finish at the final stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament. He opened that 2018 Web.com campaign with a T2 at the Colombia Championship in February and added a T7 at the Honda Classic, where he played the final round alongside Tiger Woods.
In April 2018, Burns earned his first professional victory at the Savannah Golf Championship on the Web.com Tour. He birdied each of the final three holes to defeat Roberto Castro by one stroke, and that finish helped him secure a place on the PGA Tour at the end of the 2018 Web.com season. He has been a PGA Tour member since the start of the 2018–19 season.
PGA Tour Breakthrough (2018–2021)
Burns’s first PGA Tour victory came in May 2021 at the Valspar Championship. He shot a final-round 68 to win by three strokes over Keegan Bradley and announce himself as a regular contender. Two weeks later he finished runner-up to K.H. Lee at the AT&T Byron Nelson, capping a strong spring stretch. Earlier in the year, he had also finished solo third at the Genesis Invitational, where he had held the solo lead at the end of each of the first three rounds before being caught on the back nine of the final round.
He added a second PGA Tour title in October 2021, winning the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. That victory gave him multiple wins in a single season for the first time and confirmed his status as a rising American player.
Valspar and Colonial Titles (2022)
On March 20, 2022, Burns captured his second consecutive Valspar Championship, beating Davis Riley in a playoff. Less than two months later, on May 29, 2022, he won the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club after making a 38-foot birdie putt in a playoff against Scottie Scheffler. Burns had trailed by seven strokes entering the final round, matching Nick Price’s 1994 mark for the largest final-round comeback to win at Colonial.
Match Play Title and Team Appearances (2022–2023)
In March 2023, Burns won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, defeating Cameron Young 6 and 5 in the championship match to claim his first World Golf Championships title. He had earlier qualified for the U.S. team at the 2022 Presidents Cup, where he went 2–3–0 across his five matches.
Later in 2023, Burns was selected as one of Zach Johnson’s six captain’s picks for the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia, Rome, Italy. The European team won 16.5–11.5, and Burns went 1–2–0, including a loss in his Sunday singles match against Rory McIlroy.
Driving Style and Strengths
Burns is regarded as a precise iron player and a calm competitor in pressure situations. His playoff victories at the Valspar Championship, the Charles Schwab Challenge, and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play highlight a comfort with head-to-head golf. He is also known for a steady temperament on Sunday, repeatedly putting himself in contention in final groups on the PGA Tour.
Notable Events and Milestones
His 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge victory, in which he erased a seven-stroke final-round deficit, stands as one of the signature moments of his career. Winning the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in 2023 added a World Golf Championships title to his résumé, and his appearances for the United States in the 2022 Presidents Cup and the 2023 Ryder Cup reflect his standing among the top American players of his era.
Sam Burns Career Wins
Across the Web.com Tour, the PGA Tour, and the World Golf Championships, Sam Burns has built a résumé that includes six professional victories. He has won one Web.com Tour event and five PGA Tour titles, including a World Golf Championships crown. His wins have come in a variety of formats, from stroke play playoffs to match play finals.
PGA Tour Highlights
Burns has won five PGA Tour events: the 2021 Valspar Championship, the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship, the 2022 Valspar Championship, the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge, and the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. His Valspar successes in 2021 and 2022 made him a back-to-back champion at Innisbrook, and the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge delivered a memorable playoff birdie against Scottie Scheffler.
Other Wins and Performances
His first professional victory came at the 2018 Savannah Golf Championship on the Web.com Tour, where a closing run of three consecutive birdies secured a one-stroke win over Roberto Castro. As an amateur, Burns was a three-time individual state champion at Calvary Baptist Academy, the 2014 AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year, and the NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year for 2016–17.
Sam Burns Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Sam Burns is the son of Todd and Beth Burns of Shreveport, Louisiana. He grew up in a Louisiana household that supported his early interest in golf, and he developed his game at Calvary Baptist Academy before going on to star at Louisiana State University. His parents have been a consistent presence throughout his amateur and professional career.
Personal Life
Burns is married to Caroline Campbell Burns, his wife since their wedding. In 2024, the couple welcomed their first child, a son named Bear. Burns is a Christian and has supported Compassion International’s Fill the Stadium initiative, a campaign that provides food, medical supplies, and other forms of support to children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The family resides in Choudrant, Louisiana.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 season has been a strong campaign for Sam Burns, who has regularly put himself in contention on the PGA Tour. In June 2025, he finished runner-up at the RBC Canadian Open, losing in a playoff to Ryan Fox. The result signaled a return to form in high-profile stroke play events and extended his run of consistent finishes.
The following week, Burns held the 54-hole lead at the 2025 U.S. Open. A final-round 8-over 78 dropped him to a tie for seventh, ending his bid for a first major title. Despite that Sunday, the performance reinforced his reputation as a contender in the game’s biggest tournaments and showed that his game travels well across both regular and major-championship setups.
Looking ahead across the rest of 2025, Burns remains a fixture in PGA Tour events and remains in the mix for a spot on future United States teams. With five PGA Tour wins, a WGC title, and multiple team-championship appearances already in hand, the Louisiana native continues to be one of the steady American presences on tour.