Live leaderboard: Moving day at the Memorial

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – One week after beating Tiger Woods, Sam Burns returned to his alma mater and the life he left to ply his trade. Burns was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to visit his former teammates, throw out the first pitch at an LSU baseball game and attend his girlfriend’s sorority formal. His final-round playing partner the previous week was a popular topic of conversation. Burns estimates he was asked about Woods some 40 times, though his body language and slight laugh seemed to imply that the inquiry came even more frequently. “I kind of miss it,� Burns said about college. However, he was playing golf last Friday in Louisiana while his friends were in class. “I don’t miss that part of it,� he joked. Burns, 21, would be a junior at LSU if he hadn’t decided to turn pro last year. Now he may be pro golf’s hot new prospect after going toe-to-toe with Tiger in the final round of The Honda Classic. Burns finished eighth after a bogey-free 68 that was two shots lower than Woods’ Sunday score. “I thought Sam would play great because Sam always thought this day would happen,� said his college coach, Chuck Winstead. “Deep down he sees himself as a great player and great players are eventually paired with great players. He has an inner belief that the best have that isn’t contingent on each round or each tournament.� Burns is back on the PGA TOUR this week after his brief return to campus. His T8 finish at The Honda Classic – which wasn’t even the best finish of his brief PGA TOUR career – earned him a start at the Valspar Championship. He also has a spot in next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Woods approached Burns for a brief chat Tuesday at Innisbrook’s putting green. There was a box of new clothes awaiting Burns when he arrived at his locker after his practice session. He’s fitting in nicely on the PGA TOUR. The only question is how much more he’ll play here this season. Burns can use three more sponsor exemptions this season. This week doesn’t count against that limit, nor does his start at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. He earned that appearance by winning last year’s Jack Nicklaus Award as college golf’s top player. He’s hoping to use one of his remaining invitations on the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in his home state. He said former Memorial champion William McGirt is a prospective teammate. Burns also has Web.com Tour status this season after his 10th-place finish at Q-School. He ranks 13th on the money list after a runner-up finish in at the Club Colombia Championship. He plans on returning to the tour for the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by NACHER, but his time there could be limited if he continues his good play. Burns is 147 non-member FedExCup points from earning special temporary membership, which would allow him to accept unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season. He could take care of that with a third-place finish this week. A solo fourth would leave him just 12 points short. “I honestly don’t know what that is,� Burns said Tuesday. “If I play well, that takes care of itself.� The Valspar is the same event where Jordan Spieth earned his first TOUR status in 2013. He became a special temporary member after a runner-up at the Puerto Rico Open and seventh-place finish at Innisbrook. He won the John Deere Classic later that year, qualified for the TOUR Championship and made the Presidents Cup team. Spieth and Woods are the only players to qualify for the TOUR Championship after starting the season without TOUR status. Burns may face long odds to replicate that feat, but he’s surged to the head of the class among this talented crop of rookie pros. This, despite being left off the 10-man U.S. team that competed at last year’s Walker Cup. Fellow LSU alum John Peterson used his Walker Cup omission as motivation, nearly winning the 2012 U.S. Open after being left off the previous year’s team. Burns is responding in similar fashion. “It’s probably something I think I’ll never get over as long as I live because when you’re 50 or 60 years old you want to tell your kids that you played in the Walker Cup,� Burns said. “I’ll never be able to do that, so I think that it will always leave a bad taste in my mouth.� He wasn’t picked for the team despite winning one of college golf’s player of the year awards and finishing T6 at the Barbasol Championship while still an amateur. He’s made the cut in three of four starts this season, adding a T20 at the Shriners Hospitals for Championship and T43 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Burns has seen PGA TOUR players up close since his childhood. He’s longtime friends with Carter Toms, son of 13-time TOUR winner David Toms. Burns has tagged along on family vacations, where he also competed against players like Davis Love III. Burns texted Toms for advice on playing with Woods at PGA National. Toms told Burns to putt out first, when possible, so that the crowds wouldn’t be running while he was over his ball. Advice is worthless, though, if the recipient doesn’t have the game to compete. Burns birdied his first hole with Woods, knocking his approach shot to 3 feet, and was bogey-free in the Honda’s final round. “When he plays his game as good as anyone,� Toms said. “He always has that to fall back on.�

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Here’s a look at the two players who Monday qualified for the Rocket Mortgage Classic. There was a four-for-one playoff to decide the last spot. There are two spots available at each Monday qualifier after the COVID-19 break. QUALIFIERS Kurt Kitayama (64) Age: 27 College: UNLV Turned pro: 2015 PGA TOUR starts: 10 PGA TOUR earnings: $174,249 Twitter: @Kurt_Kitayama Notes: Has played in five PGA TOUR events so far this year, making four cuts … His best finish was a T18 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am … He has 10 career starts on the PGA TOUR … He has played 31 career Korn Ferry Tour starts, making 13 cuts, with zero top 10s … Had a win on the Asian Developmental Tour in 2018 … Had two runner-ups and a fourth-place finish on Asian Tour in 2018 … At end of 2018 went to European Tour Q school and got thru all three stages, despite not ever playing in Europe prior to Q school … He then won the Afrasian Bank Open (co-sanction event with Sunshine Tour) and the Oman Open in the 2018-19 European Tour season … Ranked 1187th in world rankings at the beginning of 2018 and is now ranked 77th … Had a great career at UNLV, including top 15 scoring average in school history … Scoring averaged of 70.6 as a sophomore in high school … Was an All-Section point guard in basketball in high school both his junior and senior year. Donnie Trosper (67) Age: 23 College: Michigan State University Turned pro: 2019 PGA TOUR starts: 0 PGA TOUR earnings: Twitter: @DonnieTrosper Notes: This will be his first start on any of the PGA TOUR-sanctioned tours … Won in a three-hole playoff for the final spot … Lost in a playoff for the last spot in the Puerto Rico Open Monday qualifier this year … Is a 2020 Korn Ferry Tour member … Made it from Pre-Qualifying all the way to final stage at Q school … Shot every single round under par in Q school … Transferred to Michigan State after three years at Central Florida … At Central Florida, he was named conference freshman of the year and made All-conference twice … In his one year at Michigan State he set the lowest scoring average in school history (71.37) … Ranked as high 241st in World Amateur Golf Rankings before turning pro … won four American Junior Golf Association events in 2014, tying for second all-time with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson TROSPER Q&A A quick chat with Donnie Trosper after Monday qualifying at the Rocket Mortgage Classic: PGATOUR.COM: What does it mean to Monday qualify for you to get your first PGA TOUR start in your home state? TROSPER: You know, this course really set up for well for my game, it sets up really well for a fade and that is what I hit, so I was confident coming in. It just means a lot. I really can’t believe it right now. It hasn’t sunk in, I’m sure that will take some time. You always think you are going to eventually get there, but this is a really great feeling, like I said before, I just can’t believe it. PGATOUR.COM: There haven’t been many playing opportunities because of quarantine. What did you do to keep your game in shape and what were your expectations coming in to today? TROSPER: I used Dustin Johnson as some motivation, he came off of vacation and won at the Travelers [Championship], so figured I could come out of quarantine and play well. Luckily, I grew up on a golf range, so I worked really hard on game during the break and felt really good coming in. A lot of the guys here are in the same situation, without good status we all haven’t played much, so that was pretty equal across the board. PGATOUR.COM: You lost in a playoff for Puerto Rico Open. Did you learn anything from that playoff, that you were able to apply to today? TROSPER: Yes, for sure, just to not to put so much pressure on myself. I put a ton of pressure on myself in that playoff and I am sure it hurt me. I also learned a little from Daniel Berger then other day in the Charles Schwab Challenge playoff. He was on the range ripping drivers while Colin Morikawa was hitting wedges. I used that warming up for playoff, ripping some drivers really helped me get some of the tension out and loosened me up. I tried my best to enjoy myself. PGATOUR.COM: On the first playoff hole, you made a long birdie putt, but Andres Echavarria made one right after that. Is it hard to reset mentally, thinking you might have won it, only to have him make one also? TROSPER: I was really proud of that putt; I mean you dream of putts like that. And to make it was really cool. You play your whole life for a putt like that, and to make it was just awesome. But yeah, it’s disappointing for sure to have him make it right on top of me. On the walk over to the next tee, I really had to refocus. Then he made that great up and down on the second playoff hole, you just have to keep focused. PGATOUR.COM: How many times have you played Detroit Golf Club? Will you have some home course advantage? TROSPER: I just played there last week with (former Detroit Red Wing) Darren McCarty and (former Detroit Lion) T.J. Lang. It really helped me, I think, with playing it under pressure, I was really nervous playing with those guys. I really hope that helps this week. It’s so rare in golf to be able to sleep in your own bed and play in an event, let alone a PGA TOUR event. I really just can’t wait for this week. NOTES NOTABLE MISSES: Andrea Pavan 67, Andres Echavarria 67, MJ Daffue 68 STRENGTH OF TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP MONDAY QUALIFIER: Combined number of PGA TOUR starts: 36 Number of players with at least 1 PGA TOUR wins: Zero Combined number of PGA TOUR wins: 0 Combined PGA TOUR earnings: Over $125K Combined Korn Ferry Tour wins: Zero Player with most PGA TOUR wins in the field: None COURSE INFO Name of course: Oakland University Katke course; 6,878 yards; rating 74.3, slope 140 2019-2020 SEASON MONDAY QUALIFIER STATS Average Medalist score: 65.2 Average last qualifying spot score: 66.8 Total number of cuts made: 10 of 48 (20.8%) Most recent results (Travelers Championship): David Pastore MC (Chase Koepka WD) Money earned: $325,518 Best Finish: Garrett Osborn, T18, Sanderson Farms NEXT MONDAY QUALIFIER July 6: Workday Open Monday Qualifier, Country Club of Muirfield Village NOTES FROM OTHER TOURS Monday Qualifier Hayden Buckley birdied his last four holes at the Utah Championship presented by Zion Bank and finished in the Top 25. Paul Peterson finished T16 at the Korn Ferry King and Bear Classic two weeks ago after Monday qualifying. That earned him a spot in the Utah Championship presented by Zion Bank. He then finished in top 25 again, earning a spot in this week’s event.

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