The 2026 British Open will go from a leaderboard of batters lined up one after the other to one with only one player in the top 10 with a major championship on his resume. That man is Bryson DeChambeau, who owns two U.S. Open trophies, but it was DeChambeau’s playing partner Saturday that the field will be chasing in Sunday’s final round.
Sam Burns has been simply sensational over the past 36 holes. The five-time PGA Tour winner played the worst round in major championship history on Friday and then completed perhaps an even tougher task. Burns didn’t miss out on Saturday’s win at Royal Birkdale, signing with the second lowest round of the day (65) and recording the lowest points total (127) in consecutive rounds in a men’s major championship.
Burns will enter the final round at 10 under, with a two-stroke lead over Ryan Fox and Siu Kim. After being thrust into the DeChambeau circus, the 29-year-old took this game in stride, embracing his surroundings and piling up quality shots to rise to the top of the leaderboard.
A winner at every level of his career, Burns has been snowballing toward this result, especially as of late. He was a regular at the Masters in April and nearly edged out Windham Clark at Sinek Hills. In this major tournament, Clark started the sixth and final round without giving up a goal and won by just one point.
So Burns understands how small a two-stroke is. He understands how this tournament can turn around in just one hole, and how quickly that can happen. Tee shot in a pot bunker. Bad bounce. Ruling Against You — Watch the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont. He knows that you never know what can happen in the final round of a major championship.
“At the end of the day, I can’t control what other people do,” Burns said. “Someone is going to go out (Sunday) and have a great round of golf, probably a few people. That’s pretty much a given. It happens every week.
“So I have to do the same thing. I have to go out and do it. I know that in the end, whatever happens, I can live with the consequences and my life will move on. I can go home and see my family. I hope I have the hardware, but if I don’t, that’s fine.”
Will someone step up and catch Burns in Sunday’s final round? Let’s break down the top seven players (excluding Burns) vying for the Claret Jug and Champion Golfer of the Year titles.
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