2021 Houston Open: Top 10 power rankings at Memorial Park

There are too many good trends going Sam Burns’ way to put anyone else in the No. 1 slot this week.

He followed up his maiden PGA Tour win this spring at the Valspar Championship with another one a few starts ago at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

The Sanderson was the meat of a sandwich of seven straight top-25 finishes that Burns looks to extend at the Houston Open.

The LSU grad looked good last year at Memorial Park. Burns fired 68-65-68-72 for T-7th.

He led the field in strokes gained tee to green (11.147) but was ice cold with the putter.

The 25-year-old is usually great with the flat stick, so I expect him to fare much better his second time around these greens. Burns was ninth on the PGA Tour last season in SG putting (.579).

He was also fifth in birdie average (4.43), 12th in par-4 scoring (3.98) and 11th in par-5 scoring (4.53).

Burns took the last two weeks off, which should be an advantage against a weak field filled with players jetting from Bermuda to Mexico and now Texas.

He was sharp his last time out with a T-5th against a strong field at the CJ Cup.

Burns has made six cuts in a row and hasn’t missed since the U.S. Open in June. Counting no-cut events, he’s finished on the top half of the leaderboard in nine of his last 10 events.

The exception? Eighteenth out of 30 at the Tour Championship.

The flashes of potential out of Burns in recent years now yield consistently high results. That will continue with a win at the Houston Open.