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Team USA’s Sam Burns made his Ryder Cup debut on Friday morning in Rome, but he probably wishes he hadn’t right about now.
Burns, a 27-year-old from Louisiana, had a career year on the PGA Tour.
He won the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play tournament and finished in the top 10 in five other events throughout the season.
That was enough to land him in 12th in the US Ryder Cup standings and earn him the final pick by team captain Zach Johnson.
Burns’ selection, which happened in the most comedic fashion, was far from a given. He earned the final spot over big names such as Dustin Johnson, Bryson Dechambeau and Keegan Bradley.
That decision immediately came under fire on Friday morning after Burns struggled mightily while partnered with world No. 1 and close friend Scottie Scheffler.
Burns hit several poor approach shots early on in he and Scheffler’s match against Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton, landing the pairing two down as the groups made the turn.
Golf Channel writer Bradley Romine reported that Burns struggled even before his first competitive round.
“From some friends out following Sam Burns in Thurs practice: Hit dozens of pitch/chip shots – thin, fat, not many great. Zach Johnson checked on him at one point. Clearly didn’t look comfortable. Has yet to really settle in this morning, but U.S. needs he and Scottie right now,” Romine tweeted.
That was one more kind assessments of Burns’ play in the session.
“I stayed up for this? Sam Burns has no business being on that course – why Koepka is sitting? I have no idea,” one fan wrote.
“Sam Burns is committing treason out there,” said another.
And the criticism didn’t stop there. Not even close.
“Is it too late to get an alternate for Sam Burns? We need this guy off the team immediately,” Twitter user @realsportspost wrote.
“Sam Burns over DeChambeau needs investigated for match fixing,” said Aidan Keenan.
Make no mistake. Burns is a solid player. But it appears the lights were a bit too bright for him on Friday morning. And that’s never good sign with the Ryder Cup on the line.