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2021 Hero World Challenge: Top 10 power rankings at Albany

By Mike Randleman

December 2, 2017; New Providence, The Bahamas; Detail view of the trophy on the first hole during the third round of the Hero World Challenge golf tournament at Albany. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
December 2, 2017; New Providence, The Bahamas; Detail view of the trophy on the first hole during the third round of the Hero World Challenge golf tournament at Albany. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 3, 2021; Jackson, Mississippi, USA; Sam Burns holds the Sanderson Farms Championship trophy after winning the PGA event at the Country Club of Jackson. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2021; Jackson, Mississippi, USA; Sam Burns holds the Sanderson Farms Championship trophy after winning the PGA event at the Country Club of Jackson. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports /

Life’s got to be pretty good right now for Sam Burns. He began 2021 ranked outside the top 150 in the Official World Golf Rankings and is now in the top 20 and getting invited to cash grab events like the Hero World Challenge.

As a young player who was steadily playing well and slowly earning ranking points, there was no shame in his standing at the turn of the new year.

Burns quickly began to find consistency on the Florida swing where he shook off a prior stretch of MC-MC-MC-T39th to win his maiden PGA Tour event at the Valspar Championship.

Burns nearly doubled up in his next start two weeks later in taking second place at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Some brief ankle issues came in the heart of major championship season, but he got back on track at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with a T-2nd. That began what is an ongoing streak of eight straight top-25 finishes.

He won again at the Sanderson Farms Championship, took T-5th against a lot of Hero World Challenge participants at the CJ Cup and was T-7th his last time out at the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open.

Burns is a great ball striker who also has all the tools. He’s a solid putter, particularly on Bermuda greens where he has a great track record of rolling it well.

On the young 2021-22 season, Burns is first (2.071) on the PGA Tour in strokes gained tee to green. While that may revert closer to the mean of his 42nd ranking last season, his putting of 96th now ought to climb back higher toward ninth where he finished in 2020-21.

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