Sam Burns will start the final round of the 2026 Memorial Tournament with an outside chance for a comeback victory. But his task would be far easier had he not thrown away two shots with a crooked number early Sunday morning.
The culprit? One of the many trees that border the fairways at Muirfield Village. That tree burned Burns not once, but twice in a row in Round 3 to threaten his chances of winning on Sunday.
Sam Burns hits tree with two straight shots at 2026 Memorial
Round 3 play was suspended Saturday night after storms caused havoc all day. Burns was among the majority of the field that needed to return Sunday morning to finish the third round before getting on to Round 4.
When Burns arrived at Muirfield’s par-5 11th hole early Sunday, he was one under on the round and seven under for the tournament.
At the time, just a couple shots separated the U.S. Ryder Cup team member from J.T. Poston’s lead.
Things started going awry quickly at 11, when Burns lost his tee shot to the right. It ended up in deep rough, with a tree located directly in front of him some 10 yards away.
Burns pulled a long iron and planned to hit a strong punch to advance his ball up the fairway, giving him a shot at the green with his third. He planned to send his ball just to the left of the tree’s trunk, and just under one of its overhanging branches.
But his first attempt did not go to plan. His ball instead slammed directly into the tree, bouncing backward and coming to rest not far from its starting place.
Microphones overheard Burns registering his shock that the ball came out so high. Still, with a better punch on try No. 2, he could reach the green in 4 and potentially save par.
But when Burns reeled back and swung for the second time, his ball caught the same tree again. This time it only clipped the branch then continued forward… directly into the creek bisecting the 11th fairway.
A penalty shot followed, and eventually Burns holed out for a devastating double-bogey 7 to drop to five under.
Over his remaining holes in Round 3, Burns rallied to make two birdies and finish with a 71.
He starts Sunday’s finale in solo third at seven under, five shots behind Poston.
