PGA Tour contender hits it in jail. Then uses the rules to make birdie

Sam Burns has made headlines this week for some bad luck last fall, but his luck might be changing in 2024.

Of course, Burns is a major talking point this week because of the three letters shaved into the side of his head: RTR.

That’s short-hand for “Roll Tide Roll” the iconic chant of the Alabama Crimson Tide. But Burns went to Louisiana State, the Crimson Tide’s South Eastern Conference rival.

It turns out Burns had a friendly wager with close friend and Alabama alum Justin Thomas and last fall’s matchup between the two college football blue-bloods. Alabama defeated LSU 42-28 and it appears that meant Burns had to shave “RTR” into his mullet for this week’s PGA Tour stop at The American Express.

But you likely wouldn’t have heard as much about the story (which was detailed Friday by GOLF’s Nick Piastowski) if Burns’ play hadn’t vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard through two rounds in Palm Springs. Burns shot a career-low 61 Friday on his way to a two-shot lead heading into the weekend.

Starting on the back nine of the Stadium Course at PGA West for the third round, Burns was off to a good start, three under for the day and 20 for the tournament, by the time he reached the 16th hole. But that’s when he made what should have been a critical error.

Rules

After smashing his drive 330 yards on the par-5, Burns pulled his approach left with a hybrid from 258. If you’re familiar with the 16th hole at the stadium course, you know that left is the one place you can’t hit it with your approach.

Left of the green at 16 is a massive bunker, stretching about 90 yards along the green and about 20 feet below the putting surface. Just two of nine players who hit their second shots in that bunker have managed an up-and-down this week. The same number of players made bogey.

But Burns caught a break. Instead of kicking off the massive slope just left of the putting surface, his ball stayed on the bank. Even better, after walking up to his ball and examining the lie, Burns and a PGA Tour rules official determined his ball was embedded in its own pitch mark. He was granted free relief.

However, taking a drop on a slope as steep as the one to the left of 16 green is no easy task. With the official watching, Burns took his two drops before attempting to place the ball on the spot it landed in, as per Rule 14.3c(2). That rule also states, if Burns is unable to get his ball to stay, “the player must place a ball on the nearest spot where the ball will stay at rest, subject to the limits in Rule 14.2e. This might result in the ball being placed outside the relief area.”

“This might take a minute,” commented one of the ESPN+ broadcasters. “Good luck, Sam!”

Burns ultimately found a spot on the bank where he could play his third. And of course, after the entire process, he nearly holed the shot. It settled just a few feet away and the five-time Tour winner easily converted the birdie.

Burns’ third was the only shot all week to be played from that bank.

However, his change of fortune to get the good break may have been short-lived. In a cruel twist of irony, through 14 holes of his third round, Burns is in third at 21 under, trailing his friend Thomas by one and current Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap by five.