As soon as he was asked about his father, Sam Burns started to tear up.
In the moments after he surged up the leaderboard Sunday, going from seven shots behind Wyndham Clark to within one shot of the lead at the time his round ended, Burns ended up hitting balls on the driving range at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club — waiting, with his father in attendance, to see if he’d end up in a playoff.
The emotion was palpable from Burns — typically low-key — in his news conference. He recalled how Todd Burns told him that he was “really proud.” And despite playing what Sam felt was a strong round of golf, a 3-under 67 that marked his best of the tournament, there was a hint of lingering regret, a bit of what-if looming over every answer after falling just short at a second consecutive U.S. Open.
“I think we both knew how special it could have been for Father’s Day,” Burns said.
Burns strung together four birdies on the front nine — with a bogey taking one of those away before the turn — to give himself a chance. But after a birdie on the 16th hole, Burns settled for pars on the final two holes, with his birdie attempt falling just short on No. 17 and rolling just wide of the pin on the final hole.
This all unfolded one year after he couldn’t turn a 54-hole lead into his first major championship at Oakmont Country Club. Burns would’ve been the fifth player to not win a U.S. Open after holding a 54-hole lead one year and then emerge with a victory the next year, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
He fell apart after the rain delay in 2025. He ceded the spotlight to J.J. Spaun and finished in a tie for seventh.
Last year, Burns said, he felt like he lost the tournament. That wasn’t the case this time, when he was the chaser and the crowd favorite and the golfer who, ultimately, fell just short once again.
“I certainly don’t feel that way today,” Burns said. “… I started the day seven shots back. That’s very difficult to overcome, especially someone who is playing as well as Wyndham has been playing. That was really the difference today.
“If I would have been a little bit closer and maybe could have got ahead of him at some point, I think there could have been a different outcome possibly, but at the end of the day, he played amazing, and it was his week. You got to tip your cap to him.”
