2022 Genesis Scottish Open: Top 10 Power Rankings at The Renaissance Club
Sam Burns isn’t a newcomer to links golf. He came over last year for a two-week stint, taking T-18th at the Genesis Scottish Open and T-76th at The Open Championship.
Perhaps not the success he was looking for, but that’s a solid baseline for a young American player.
At The Renaissance Club, Burns started off slow with a 72 before climbing the leaderboard with 68-67-66. He tied for first in scrambling (100%) and was seventh in greens in regulation (88.9%).
The former LSU Tiger won his first two career PGA Tour events in 2021 and continued his stellar play into 2022.
Burns defended at the Valspar Championship and won again at Colonial.
He and Billy Horschel also grabbed second place at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Burns recently took T-4th at the RBC Canadian Open.
Burns’ last start was a missed cut at the Travelers Championship. I’m not overly concerned as that was his third tournament in a row and sixth in seven weeks.
With a couple weeks off from competition and a trip to Lahinch in Ireland last week alongside Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth among others, I envision we’ll see a refreshed and ready Burns in Scotland.
The 25-year-old ranks eighth on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained per round (1.657). He was ninth in SG putting (.579) last season and is flirting with the top 10 again, coming in at 12th with almost the same number (.576).
He’s seventh in birdie average (4.4) as well as in scoring average (69.534), so he knows how to take it low without much volatility.