Sam Burns is entering Sunday's conclusion to the U.S. Open atop the leaderboard for the second day in a row after a one-under round brought him to four under for the tournament. Burns entered Saturday's Round 3 with a one-stroke lead at three under, and he finished Saturday maintaining a one-stroke lead.
He's in prime position to compete for his first major championship.
Burns said he "didn't drive the ball as well as I would have liked to." He hit seven of 14 fairways (50%), whereas the rest of the field averaged 63%. But he was able to make up by dominating in other areas. He ranked first in approach, recording a plus-3.71 strokes gained. He ranked fourth on the day in his short game, recording a plus-1.72 strokes gained.
"When I got out of position I feel like I did a good job of getting myself back in the fairway, having a wedge or short iron in my hand and giving myself a chance for par," Burns explained after his round on Saturday. "I was able to convert some of those and kind of kept the momentum going. So that was kind of key to the round today."
Burns, 28, entered the U.S. Open ranked 25th in the world. He came close to winning the RBC Canadian Open last week, but lost a playoff against Ryan Fox, shooting an impressive 18-under-par.
Burns also entered the tournament ranked first in the PGA in strokes gained with his putter. This has proven to be a critical piece of Oakmont’s puzzle, as many players have quoted the greens as being extremely challenging.
This is Burns' seventh career U.S. Open, with last year’s T9 finish being his best performance. He qualified for the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont but missed the cut.
This isn’t just a redemption story about his runner-up finish last week to beat the field, but also to beat the course as it has bested him once before.
"I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times, but this golf course is difficult," Burns said. "It takes a lot of patience."
Oakmont has played host to seven first-time major winners. Burns is hoping that he'll be the eighth.
"It would be incredible," he said of the chance to win it all here at Oakmont on Sunday. "I think as a kid growing up, you dream about winning major championships and that's why we practice so hard and work so hard. All these guys in this field I think would agree that to have the opportunity to win a major is special. I'm definitely really excited for tomorrow."
