Sam Burns Heats Up for Dominant WGC-Match Play Win Over Cam Young

Burns secured the win on just the 13th hole for his fifth PGA Tour victory.

A thrilling week filled with shocking upsets and nail-biter finishes ended rather quickly on Sunday afternoon as Sam Burns defeated Cam Young in just 13 holes to clinch the WGC-Dell Match Play title. Carding eight birdies in the championship match, Burns beat the 25-year-old Wake Forest product 6 and 5.

That margin of victory is the second largest since the WGC-Match Play implemented 18-hole finals in 2011. Young stood 5 down on the 13th hole and needed a win to extend the match, but his tee shot missed the green of the reachable par-4 by mere yards and splashed into the water hazard. Burns closed out Young so early that the pair finished before Rory McIlroy beat Scottie Scheffler in the consolation match.

“It was fun playing Cam today,” Burns said. “I know he didn't have his best stuff, but it was a great match. I mean, I feel like I got off to kind of a—not a great start, but felt like I kind of found something at the end of my match this morning with Scottie, and I was able to carry that on this afternoon.”

Burns sinks it ...

Young responds.@SamBurns66 remains 4-up thru 11 @DellMatchPlay after tying the hole. pic.twitter.com/mju9GOEUqM

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 26, 2023

Throughout the week, Burns (the 13 seed), beat Seamus Power, Adam Scott, Adam Hadwin, Patrick Cantlay, Mackenzie Hughes, Scottie Scheffler and ultimately Young to finish the tournament with a 7-0 record. 

Burns’s victory is his fifth win on the PGA Tour, coming off of a solo sixth-place finish last week as the two-time defending champion at the Valspar Championship. Aside from Burns’s win this week—which moves him to No. 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking (No. 8 in SI World Golf Rankings)—the 2022-23 season hasn’t been particularly strong for the LSU product. Missed cuts at both the Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational left Burns grinding on swing fixes. 

In his post-round interview, the 26-year-old attributed his sharp form to the recent hours he’s been clocking in with his coach, Brad Pullin. Burns found a way to successfully battle through the swing struggles and seems to be turning a major corner. 

“Professional golf is hard. It's not easy at times and I've been really struggling with my golf swing. Just didn't quite have the command that I wanted. Wasn't able to hit some of the shots that I usually am able to. So a huge thank you to my coach Brad, he's just been rock solid and helped me a lot,” Burns said.

Despite the disappointing finish, Young was proud of his performance throughout the grueling week at Austin Country Club. Not enough putts dropped for the former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year to pull off his maiden victory on Sunday, but he recognizes the positive trends in his game as a whole. 

“All I can take away is that I played really well,” Young said. “Just thankful to get myself all the way here. I feel like I had a bunch of really tough opponents and just ran into Sam Burns playing really well today. We all know he's one of the best players in the world, and when he's on top of it, he might be the best player in the world. Today he was against me. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. I'm playing really well, so I'm just looking forward to the next few weeks.”

Young now has eight top-three finishes on the PGA Tour since the start of the 2022 season, the most of any player on Tour.