Sam Burns went from thinking he had a "zero percent chance" of playing in the Open Championship to matching the all-time major record with an 8-under 62 on Friday.
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind for Burns. The World No. 18 initially didn't expect to play at Royal Birkdale, as his daughter was scheduled to be born at the same time as the tournament. However, Burns' newborn arrived on July 3, and he decided last Friday to make the trip.
"I thought there was zero percent chance. Brett, my agent, was like, 'I'm just going to sign you up just in case,' but I was like, 'You can, but I'm probably not going to be able to play,'" Burns said. "Then we ended up having her on (July 3). Even then, I still wasn't expecting to play by any means. Had a bunch of conversations with my wife, and she encouraged me to come over here and play, and here we are."
Burns' record-tying round came in a significantly different fashion than Lucas Herbert, who also shot a 62 on Friday but finished his round 20 minutes earlier. While Herbert received the full weight of TV coverage, Burns was barely featured until he walked onto the 18th tee at 7-under for the day.
But Burns' electric late surge likely contributed to his limited coverage. He chipped in for birdie on 16, canned a 19-footer for birdie on 17, and holed out from the greenside bunker for birdie on 18.
His history of poor performances at The Open may also explain the lack of attention. Burns has never finished inside the top 30 in the season's final major and opened this year's tournament with a 4-over 74.
