THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 13, 2022

Sam Burns

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. Which putt was more satisfying, 16 or 18?

SAM BURNS: I'd say 16. It was obviously nice to make the one on 18, but from 70-plus feet, just kind of one of those just kind of make you laugh.

Q. Did you watch yesterday?

SAM BURNS: A little bit, yeah.

Q. What was your reaction?

SAM BURNS: I just felt bad for the guys that had to play. You just -- you never wish that upon your opponents. It's unfortunate. Over your career, you have good waves and bad waves, but still like it just sucks to see.

Q. Have you had a really bad draw like that before?

SAM BURNS: Yeah. When I was an amateur, I played in the Valero when it was really bad. I forget what year, maybe 2015, I think. It blew like 40. I mean, I shot a million, but that one was tough.

Q. Are those kind of easier missed cuts to swallow because it's like, well, everything just kind of conspired against me?

SAM BURNS: Of course. You always want to play well no matter the conditions. A lot of it is just out of your control. There's only so much you can control out there, and weather is not one of them. So yeah, probably.

Q. Was there something that changed for you on that back nine?

SAM BURNS: I hit probably one of the worst shots I've ever hit in my life on 10 with a 7-iron. Then had 7-iron to the par-5 and made 6. That was really bad. So a weird couple of holes. Nothing really. Just tried to keep plugging along. This golf course doesn't really give you a chance to kind of have a minute to be unfocused. It kind of takes your attention on every shot.

Q. Anything you've picked up on playing this golf course?

SAM BURNS: Well, it's been a couple days since I've played, so it kind of felt like we were starting a new tournament today. There's little nuances here and there on a couple tee shots and a couple spots around the greens.

Q. Do you have to remind yourself that it's essentially Friday afternoon?

SAM BURNS: Yeah, I had to ask Travis like what day it was today. I really wasn't even sure. It's strange going from Thursday and not playing again until Sunday. Yeah, I'm excited for the next day and a half, I guess.

Q. The top 11, I think, if I'm looking correctly, every one of them is in the Thursday a.m. wave. Have you ever seen it that stacked --

SAM BURNS: Yeah, I don't know what the stroke average difference was, but I'd imagine it's got to be five shots, three shots. I'd have taken the over. But yeah, so that makes sense.

Q. We've got round 3 starting here. I mean, guys are teeing off right now. At the top of the leaderboard, how are you going to be spending these next couple hours you have off?

SAM BURNS: I'm going to eat some lunch, watch some basketball, see my physio, and get back out there.

Q. Who are you rooting for today?

SAM BURNS: I don't know. I don't know yet. I need to look and see who's playing. Unfortunately, my LSU Tigers are out. We'll see what happens.

Q. Who do you want them to hire there?

SAM BURNS: I don't know.