Should there be a cut or not? That’s the important question golf fans have on the PGA Tour and during his LIV golf circus.
LIV takes pride in its 54-hole no-cut event, ensuring everyone in the field gets paid. The PGA Tour countered this by creating a signature event structure. Five of these eight events will not take place in 2024.
Nevertheless, this week’s Players Championship, the PGA Tour’s flagship event, saw 144 players enter the weekend tied for the top 70 on Thursday.
One of them happened to be Sam Burns, who reached this number at 1 under. He made a nice up-and-down on the par-4 18th hole at the end of the second round, earning him a tee time on Saturday. In doing so, he proved that his 36-hole cut was worth it, as his desire to have a successful weekend became a competition in itself.
“I went after my round last night and worked on some things with my golf swing on the practice range and was able to find a little something,” said Burns, who played on the 2023 Ryder Cup team.
“It’s a crazy game. If one or two people change their minds here and there and clear up some things, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Burns probably never expected he would play a round on Saturday. He shot a 7-under 65, jumping up his leaderboard by nearly 50 spots.
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
“It was a really good round,” Burns said after the match.
“The last few days have been a little tough, but I came here this morning and put up some really good numbers, and if I can get back into shape even a little bit, I think we’ll be close to winning.”The end of the day is over, but… We’re much closer than we started. ”
The former LSU Tiger got off to a sluggish start, taking an eagle on the par-5 second and birdies on the fourth, fifth and seventh. He then birdied the par-5 ninth to round out the front nine and finished at 6 under. 30.
“If you start the day 13 shots behind, there’s not much of a risk,” Burns reasoned.
“We’ve got to come out and get some birdies. We knew going into today we were going to play pretty aggressive and we had nothing to lose. We were 55th. We shot 74 shots. But who cares? Maybe I should try to hit really good numbers.”
Three more birdies followed on the back nine, none more dramatic. His famous 38-foot shot on No. 17. His birdie there wasn’t all that different from Tiger Woods’ birdie in 2001.
“Honestly, it was a pretty easy putt. I just had to hit it about 7 feet,” Burns said.
“I was really trying to match my speed and where I played. I played it about a cup to the outside, drifting to the left early on and sneaking back to the right at the end. I knew he was deaf.”
Unlike in the second round, Burns stumbled on the 18th and made his second bogey of the day. He ended up hitting his 8 under through his 54 holes, a huge improvement from his 1 under starting point for the day.
But what Burns showed Saturday was the value of a 36-hole cut.
Watching the players strive to win makes watching golf on a late Friday afternoon even more enjoyable. period.
— Dottie Pepper (@dottie_pepper) March 15, 2024
He faced a high-pressure situation late Friday night, fought hard to get through the weekend, and did it. An eventful Friday gave him the momentum he needed, and now he still has a chance to finish in the winner’s circle on Sunday.
Others faced similar situations, such as Ben Silverman.
After the second round was suspended Friday due to darkness, Silverman finished 1-over, two strokes short of the cut line. He had a 116-yard third shot on the par-5 ninth.
Silverman decided to mark his ball in the fairway and head to the practice range with only his 56-degree wedge.he I practiced that shot many times.I hope to recreate that swing with my morning hole-out eagle.
Ben Silverman had to hole out from 109 yards to qualify.
When play was stopped on Friday night, he decided to mark his ball.
This led to a unique range session using a 56-degree wedge before his attempt. pic.twitter.com/sfH6F6iNyl
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 16, 2024
Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be the case. Silverman arrived at No. 9 at dawn and pushed his tee shot into a greenside pot bunker. He ended up making bogey, falling three spots short.
However, the Canadian still held onto a glimmer of hope as he hoped to qualify for his Players Championship debut.
That is the “hope” that characterizes full field events with cuts.
It also creates a unique situation for players and fans as fans around the world are treated to more drama on Friday. They create even more intrigue. With 144 players, there’s a lot more competition than with 70 or his 80 players.
That’s why so many players call The Players the strongest field in golf. And if golf fans want to see the world’s best and strongest players compete side by side, why not take a page from his championship playbook and apply it across the board? Is not it.
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.
