Sam Burns Makes Unwanted Golf History Following Collapse at 2026 Open Championship

Sam Burns stumbled a bit in the final round with 3 successive bogeys and missed out on The Open Championship title after starting day as a 54-hole leader.

Sam Burns Makes Unwanted Golf History Following Collapse at 2026 Open Championship

Sam Burns (Image via PGA Tour)

It was not meant to be for Sam Burns on Sunday. The American golfer collapsed in the final round of The Open Championship after entering as the 54-hole leader. Following this, he ended up making some unwanted golf history.

Initially, Burns was not even sure whether he would tee off at the Royal Birkdale this week. Two weeks ago, his wife gave birth to their daughter Belle. The golfer was thus contemplating whether he should leave his family and compete in the final major of the year.

After some encouragement from his wife, the 5-time PGA Tour champion flew to England and took part in the 154th Open Championship. Following an opening round score of 73, he went low and carded a round of 62 on Friday.

On Saturday, he shot 65 and opened a 2-shot lead. He was hoping for redemption, having suffered a heartbreaking loss last month at the U.S. Open.

While being 7-shots behind Wyndham Clark, the Louisiana-born star nearly pulled off a miracle. On the final hole, his birdie putt went just wide of the hole, leaving him on his knees. In the end, he finished 1-shot behind Clark and was moved to tears in the press conference.

Burns entered the final round alongside Ryan Fox as the final pair. Fox became the third player after Lucas Herbert and Burns to shoot 62 in this tournament.

Earlier, Cameron Young shot a score of 64 and was 9-under par for the tournament. After Kim Si-woo led the event at 10-under par, Fox and Burns needed to catch up to him. The South Korean would stumble on the back nine and fall in the rankings.

After a birdie on the 3rd hole, Burns made 3 successive bogeys on holes 4, 5 and 6. This turned out to be a major point of the round as he failed to make any more birdies in the round.

In the end, Fox drained a birdie putt on the final hole and finished 1-shot ahead of Young to claim his 1st major title. As he became just the 2nd New Zealand golfer to win The Open, Burns recorded an unwanted piece of history.

As per Justin Ray, he became just the 2nd golfer to lose a major in back-to-back years after having an outright lead after 54-holes. He was leading the U.S. Open by 2-shots after 3 rounds in 2025 as well. The first player to suffer this was Tom Lehman in the 1996 and 1997 U.S. Open.

RELATED
Scottie Scheffler Defends Bryson DeChambeau, Claims LIV Golf Star Is Not A “Cheater” Following Penalty at The Open

Sam Burns admits he did not play well in the final round of The Open Championship

The wait for a first major title for Sam Burns will go on in 2027. Following his disappointing finish at The Open Championship, the golfer admitted that he did not play well.

Sam Burns
Sam Burns (Image via X/@PGATOUR)

After 3 straight bogeys from Holes 4 to 6, he failed to make any birdies. He made 12 straight pars from there on, which eventually cost him the championship. He, though, did admit that he was pleased with his performance this week.

Just didn’t have my best stuff. Didn’t have things go my way. I hit a great tee shot on 17 to end up in an awful lie. Sometimes that’s the way it goes. … Given the circumstances, I’m very pleased with the week. I’m looking forward to being home.

Sam Burns told the reporters

While he did not win, he did record his best finish at The Open. The 29-year-old finishes this major season with 3-top 10 finishes (T7 at the Masters, 2nd at the U.S. Open, and 3rd at The Open). At the PGA Championship, he finished T26.

Also Read: