Sam Burns leads the 2026 Open Championship heading into Sunday’s final round at Royal Birkdale. But Sam Burns’ wife, Caroline, may deserve much of the credit.
While he has a chance to capture his first major title on Sunday, Burns wasn’t supposed to be playing here at all. He had other plans.
Initially, Caroline was due to deliver their second child on Tuesday of Open week. So all along, Burns had planned to skip the final major of the year.
Then in a twist of fate, the Burnses’ new daughter, Belle, arrived early, one week ahead of the Open.
Still, a father traveling for work just days after the birth of his child could cause some marital issues. But not for the Burnses.
It turns out that Burns’ wife was the one who ultimately encouraged Sam to travel to England to play the Open, and the one who provided a much-needed morale boost following a rough opening round.
Burns’ wife encouraged Sam to play Open after birth of their child
Following his third-round 65, which gave him a two-shot lead at this week’s Open Championship, Burns explained his early plans to skip the event.
“I’ve said this to someone earlier, this golf tournament was honestly so far off of my radar and expectations of playing,” Burns told media members Saturday night. “I mean, Caroline’s due date was Tuesday this week. She was like four days late with our son. I just didn’t think there was any possible way, and little Belle had different plans for us.”
But Belle’s early arrival didn’t change Burns’ Open plans at first. It wasn’t until Caroline brought it up that the wheels started turning.
“Even after she was born, after a couple of days, I wasn’t thinking much about it,” Burns explained. “Caroline was kind of like, ‘So what are you thinking for next week?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know. Should we talk about it?’ She was like, ‘Yeah.’”
He then revealed that it was Caroline who “encouraged” him to “come over and play,” despite his resistance.
“Ultimately she’s the one that really encouraged me to come over and play. She basically said, ‘I’ve got this at home. Go over there and give it your best,’” Burns said, “And here we are.”
Still, the difficulty of being away from his wife and newborn baby proved to be a mental challenge for Burns early in the week.
“But I think, more so if anything, it was mental. If I could get over the mental hurdle of leaving my family and being halfway across the world, I think that was going to be the bigger challenge for me,” Burns said.
He even called his good friend Scottie Scheffler to get some advice on competing shortly after having a new child.
“I actually called Scottie the week before just to talk to him about it, just to kind of see if I was thinking the right way about the situation. He gave me some good words of encouragement, and just my wife and I kind of had a conversation about it every day. You know, like I said, she said, ‘I’ve got this under control. We’re good. You should go over and play.’”
Despite his wife’s encouragement and Scheffler’s advice, the challenge appeared to be too much for him at first. Burns finished Thursday’s opening round with three straight bogeys to shoot 73.
The round left him “pretty upset,” but then Caroline swooped in once again to save the day.
“Talked to Caroline, texted with her, and she basically told me like, you know, ‘You’re over there, and I’m good at home. Like, we’re good. You need to be where your feet are,’” Burns said of his wife’s advice following his rough start. “I think that was really what I needed to hear in that moment. It’s probably what I didn’t want to hear, but I needed to hear it. Came out Friday and had nothing to lose.”
That’s an understatement. Expecting to fight for the cut in Round 2, Burns came out on Friday and dominated Royal Birkdale, firing a 10-under 62 to tie the all-time major scoring record. In contrast to Thursday’s poor finish, he closed out Friday’s round with three straight birdies.
And, according to Burns, it’s all thanks to Caroline.
“I really think she was the one that kind of gave me that encouragement that I needed and kind of a kick in the butt,” Burns admitted.
Though they aren’t together physically right now, if all goes well on Sunday, the Burns family will get to reunite on Monday and throw another welcoming party at home in Louisiana, this time for the Claret Jug.
