Sam Burns played some of the best golf of his career leading up to The 154th Open Championship in Southport, England.
Burns almost won his first major title at the 2026 U.S. Open last month, but Wyndham Clark edged out the 29-year-old for the win.
The second-place finish was bittersweet as it appeared to be Burns’ final shot at winning a major this season. The golfer’s wife, Caroline, was pregnant with their second child and her due date was July 14, two days before the opening round.
Burns’ mother, Beth Burns, flat out said he was not heading across the pond for the British Open.
“He won’t go to Europe,” Beth told The Athletic. “This is his last major. They’re going to go home and have a baby.” As for Burns, he didn’t seem to mind the break.
He looked forward to spending quality time with his 2-year-old son, Bear, before their daughter arrived.
“I just wanted to hang out with him,” Burns said of Bear. “I’ve been gone all day, basically every day this week. They’re actually going back home tonight. My wife’s 37 weeks now, so they’re going to go back home.
“I know I’m not going to get to see him for a week, which will be terrible. So I just tried to get a few more extra minutes in.”
“As a competitor, you want to go out there and compete as hard as you can and try to win, but at the end of the day, when you’re off the golf course, it’s really not that important,” Burns said. “Family is a lot more important than golf.”
Sam Burns’ Wife Caroline Gave Birth Early, Convinced Him to Compete at The Open Championship
As luck would have it, Caroline ended up giving birth to their baby girl, Belle, a few weeks early. Now, after matching the major championship scoring record of 62 on Friday, he enters the final round at Royal Birkdale Golf Club on the top of the leaderboard.
Burns told reporters that he wouldn’t be competing at all if it wasn’t for his wife.
“I thought there was zero percent chance,” Burns said of being at The Open. “Brett, my agent was like, I’m just going to sign you up just in case, but I was like, you can, but I’m probably not going to be able to play. Then we ended up having her on the 3rd.
“Even then, I still wasn’t expecting to play by any means,” he continued. “Had a bunch of conversations with my wife, and she encouraged me to come over here and play, and here we are.”
“She’s just amazing, superhero,” Burns gushed over her encouragement. “If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t be here.”
Sam Burns Didn’t Golf for 4 Days Following the Birth of Daughter Belle
Burns took a four-day break from even holding a golf club amid his baby girl’s birth.
“I still wasn’t sure if I could get there mentally,” Burns told PGATour.com. “It’s just a weird dynamic of having a new baby, and you want to be there for them and your family. I think it was ultimately my decision of, could I get there from a mental standpoint of having to leave?”
“We only get four of these (majors) a year,” Burns concluded. “If it was a different event, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
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