Sam Burns

29-Year-Old Golfer

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2026 Stats

Rank

Winnings

$2,307,972

Winnings/Entry

$209,816

Entries

Rounds

2026 Fantasy Outlook

Burns had a lights out season with the putter in 2025. He gained nearly a full shot per round on the greens, easily good enough to top the PGA Tour. While he didn't parlay that into a victory, Burns did rack up six top-10s and 13 top-25s on the year. He will feel like one got away from him at the U.S. Open where he held the lead on the back-nine and stumbled coming down the stretch. A big area of focus for Burns going into 2026 has to be his iron play. Outside the top 120 in SG: Approach just isn't going to get it done, and it also puts an immense amount of pressure on his putter. That said, the iron play did trend back in the right direction the second half of the season. Burns is still just 29-years-old and has a lot of upside. He also plays more than a lot of the top players, which is why he made the second-most birdies on Tour in 2025. Read Past Outlooks

Handedness Right

Status Pro

Height 6'1"

Weight 183 lbs

DOB 7/23/1996

Birthplace Shreveport, Louisiana

College Louisiana State

Country USA

Second in proximity at Doral

May 5, 2026

Burns fired a four-under 68 on Sunday at the Cadillac Championship to finish four-under and tied for 38th.

ANALYSIS
Burns racked up seven birdies during Sunday's final round at Doral, where he ultimately ranked T10 among the Signature Event field in GIR percentage and second in overall proximity for the week. However, he finished dead last in scrambling while losing 2.085 strokes around the greens in Miami. Nonetheless, Burns has now gained strokes on approach in four consecutive starts dating back to the Texas Children's Houston Open, and he'll be in the field again this week at Quail Hollow where he tied for 19th at the 2025 PGA Championship.

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PGA Stats

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Tournament Results

Scoring

FanDuel

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Projected PGA Tournament Status

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2025

2024

2023

2022

2020

2019

2018

While Burns didn't find the win column in 2024 like he did the season prior, he actually had a better year statistically. Burns was 13th in SG: Total in 2024 compared to 31st in 2023. He was able to pile up 12 top-15 finishes, the most such finishes in a season in his career. Burns had another great putting campaign, finishing inside the top-15 in SG: Putting for the fourth straight season. The difference is 2024 was that he signficantly improved his accuracy off the tee, as well as his SG: Approach numbers. That being said, Burns was still a ways off his numbers of 2021-22 when he finished 18th in SG: Approach and piled up three victories. The 28-year-old is still capable of those type of performances if he dials in his distances.

The expecations for Burns in 2022-23 were very high off his three-win campaign in 2021-22. It wasn't a let down because Burns was able to get another win at the WGC-Match Play, but many would have hoped for more than just six top-10s in 26 starts. Burns has long been a great driver and putter, but the difference between last season and 2021-22 was the iron play. Burns was 18th in SG: Approach in 2021-22, but fell down to 122nd in that category last season. If those can meet somewhere in the middle in 2024 you can expect a strong season for the 27-year-old.

Burns was able to better what was a very impressive season in 2020-21 with a three-win performance in 2021-22. Burns got his first win early at the Sanderson Farms Championship and then was able to repeat at the Valspar Championship in a playoff. The 26-year-old picked up his final win at Colonial in which he outlasted the No.1 ranked player in the OWGR, Scottie Scheffler, in a playoff. Burns tailed off a bit down the stretch, but his combonation of distance and putting will make him a consistent threat for years to come. The next step for this player will be to raise his level of play at the majors.

Burns didn't enter the PGA Tour with much hype in 2019, but entering 2020-21, there was a feeling that he was about to break through. That break through occurred at the Valspar Championship in May where he picked up his first PGA Tour win. Not one to rest on his laurels, Burns posted a runner-up in his next start on tour. His pace slowed a bit after that, but he managed to find another runner-up at the St. Jude in August. In all, it was an incredible year for Burns, one that he's unlikely to duplicate this year however. Burns should continue to get better, but his number is just too high for salary cap purposes this season.

Burns' second season on Tour came with mediocre results: 103rd in FedEx Cup points, 11-out-of-19 cuts made and three top-20 finishes. At only 24, it's likely we have yet to see the best of Burns, who won the Jack Nicklaus Award at the best collegiate golfer in 2017. Burns ranked inside the top 10 in driving distance and top-20 in SG: Off-the-tee last season, but has been held back by his chipping game where he's failed to crack the top 175 in either year on Tour. An improvement there could pay off big in 2020-21.

Burns had a solid, yet not quite spectacular rookie season on the PGA Tour this past year. He earned over $1 million, carded six top-10s and most importantly, secured his card for the upcoming season. His best finish came in the fall however and while he did post six top-10s, he was more of a hit or miss type of guy last season. There could be something there, but it's too early too tell. It's probably best to pass on Burns this season in salary cap formats.

The LSU product was named a first-team All-American and recipient of the Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year award as the NCAA's top golfer during the 2016-17 season. He not only won on the Web.com Tour as a rookie in 2018, but also appeared in 11 PGA Tour events including a top-10 at the Honda Classic. Burns led the Web.com Tour in both birdie average and putting average, so he'll be a candidate to make some noise with a full schedule at the next level.

More Fantasy News

Driving struggles at Harbour Town

April 20, 2026

Burns finished tied for 16th at the RBC Heritage with a nine-under cumulative score.