2021 Sanderson Farms Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Country Club of Jackson

Given the Americans’ 19-9 romp at the Ryder Cup, it was clear they didn’t need Sam Burns. But I think he would have fit in.

It’s rare a top-25 player in the world would miss out on the team, but it goes to show how deep the U.S. was.

Burns compiled three top-10s in 2020 before really turning it on in 2021. The former elite collegian at LSU finished solo third at the Genesis Invitational in February and won his first PGA Tour event at the Valspar Championship in May.

Burns nearly won in consecutive starts when he took solo second a couple weeks later at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He dealt with some back issues in the summer that forced him to withdraw from the PGA Championship. Burns finished outside the top 10 in his next five starts but only missed one cut while he regained full health.

The 25-year-old got back into a groove in August at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational where a closing 64 rocketed him up the leaderboard into a three-man playoff won by Abraham Ancer.

Burns was solid throughout the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He opened with T-21st at the Northern Trust and sealed his ticket to the Tour Championship for the first time thanks to T-8th at the BMW Championship.

Burns is making waves with the way he hits the ball. The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder ranked 33rd on the PGA Tour last season in driving distance (305.3) and seems to have a little extra power in the reserves when needed.

He can also make birdies in bunches. Burns was fifth in birdie average (4.43) and stays aggressive even after a bad hole or two, coming in at 46th in bounce back percentage (22.9%).

Though Country Club of Jackson isn’t a big test, even those on the top half of the leaderboard made a half dozen or so bogeys or worse.

Burns owns three made cuts in four tries at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He took T-3rd in 2018 with rounds of 69-70-66-68.