Sam Burns continued his strong run at the American Express on Friday, posting an impressive 11-under 61 to take a 36-hole lead.
His 61 was also a career low for Burns, who had two eagles in the second round.
“Overall, it was a really solid day,” Burns said.
“I hit a lot of quality shots and made some putts.”
The former LSU Tiger started the day with three consecutive pars and took an eagle on the par-5 fourth. He hit a 5-iron 15 feet and rolled it to three-on.
This putt opened the floodgates for Burns, who made three birdies in a row. By the time he reached the par-4 9th hole, he was 5 under for the day and 11 under for the tournament.
“If you look at the scores, obviously everyone is hitting good numbers,” Burns added.
“I have to keep up the pace, hit as many quality shots as I can and make as many shots as I can… but I think it comes down to making some key putts. .”
Two years ago, Jon Rahm famously got caught on a hot mic at American Express. If you say this event It was a shitty setup, [it is a] “Putting Contest.” Ironically, he won this tournament the following year.
Lee Min-woo, who will be participating in his first event as a regular member of the PGA Tour this year, agreed with the Spaniard's opinion.
“I think it's a lot easier in some ways because we've got a lot of birdies and the scores are really low, but we still have to play really well and hit our drives well and wedge them close,” Lee said. spoke ahead of this year's tournament. tournament.
“So, like Jon Rahm said, this is a putting contest, and if you get on the green, hopefully you'll get a few putts in.”
In fact, the American Express has always been a birdie festival, as every winner since 2016 has been under 20 under par.
Burns currently leads the field at 17 under, with another eagle on the par-5 11th and four more birdies on the back nine.
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He had a chance to shoot a glorious 59, but needed an eagle on the par-4 18th to reach that number. Instead he settled for par and happily signed a 61.
Asked how he would approach the weekend, Barnes said: “I think the same thing.”
“I’ve played well here in the past, so hopefully I can build on that and go out there and hit as many quality shots as I can and see if I can make some putts.”
If Burns can keep making hole putts, he's going to be a tough guy to beat. But statistics show he's doing just that. Last year, Burns ranked eighth in Strokes Gained Putting on the PGA Tour. His ability to roll on the greens was a factor in Zach Johnson selecting him for the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Burns paraded around PGA West's Nicklaus Tournament Course on a mission Friday, needing just 26 putts.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
