VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

March 15, 2023

Sam Burns

Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead)

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Sam Burns to the interview room here at the 2023 Valspar Championship, a place that you're very familiar with, Sam, having won the last two Valspar Championships. So I guess the first question is: What's it like coming in here having won the last couple and the chance to three-peat, I guess.

SAM BURNS: Yeah, lots of really great memories from the last couple years. But it feels good to be back. It doesn't seem like it was a year ago. It goes by quick.

I think the golf course is in great condition, as fast as I've seen the greens on a Wednesday or even yesterday, Tuesday, that I've ever seen 'em. So golf course is in great shape. I think with the weather we're supposed to get it could be a really good test this week, so I'm excited.

THE MODERATOR: Speaking of the weather, you came in here, I shook your hand. It was pretty cold. What was that like out there this morning?

SAM BURNS: It was freezing this morning and then it started raining, so that didn't help. But it was nice to get out early and be done.

THE MODERATOR: How would you assess your season so far this week? You played well in Phoenix, pretty solid last week. How would you assess it?

SAM BURNS: I would say it hasn't been great so far. I think just a little bit of inconsistency. But I think the important thing to remember is, as a player, it's never as far off as sometimes you feel that it is, and so I think just continuing to do the hard work and continuing to kind of stick to my process of trying to get better, and I know that at some point it will click and everything will come together.

So I think for me it's trying to not just look too far ahead and just try to get a little bit better each day.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We'll take some questions for Sam.

Q. Just curious how winning this tournament changed your life.

SAM BURNS: I think I would say a couple years ago obviously being out here and not having won yet was frustrating because I feel like I put myself in position to have a couple chances and not been able to quite close the door.

And then coming here in 2021, I wouldn't necessarily say it changed my life, I would say it definitely changed my career as a professional golfer. It gave me a lot more opportunities into certain events that I was not in that year. I wasn't in all the majors, so getting in all the majors, and then I think it gave me a lot of confidence moving forward to know that when I was in that situation in the future, I could kind of lean on this week and was able to grow a lot because of it.

Q. What is it about this course that brings out the best in you?

SAM BURNS: Yeah, I've had people ask me that question. I wish I could pinpoint what it was. I don't know. I think the thing that I like about this golf course is it's such a good mixture of holes. It's not like you just get up there and grab your driver every hole and just hit it as far as you can. There's a lot of different shots you can hit off tees. There's holes where you could hit four or five different clubs off tees and kind of play it whatever way you want. So I think there's a lot of flexibility here. There's certain holes where you have to hit a lot of really quality shots. I think it's just a very demanding golf course and when you hit the correct shots you get rewarded.

Q. Just lastly, there was some significant news in the golf world yesterday with the USGA and R & A's proposal to roll back the ball. Just your reaction to it and how you think the PGA TOUR should respond.

SAM BURNS: Personally, I think it's pretty silly. I would say if you look at the last few years of golf, I think the game has grown tremendously. At the end of the day no matter what it is we're an entertainment sport and I think, I don't think people necessarily want to come out here and watch guys hit it shorter. They enjoy watching guys go out there and hit it 350 yards. I don't see what the problem is with that. I think that's a skill and I don't really agree with trying to take that away.

THE MODERATOR: Sam, you're really good friends with Scottie Scheffler. He's been on a bit of a tear as we all know lately. What sort of inspiration do you draw from that and what can you learn from that to apply to your own game?

SAM BURNS: Yeah, it's really cool to see him playing well. I think his kind of last year and a half has been some of the best golf I've ever seen. I think he's got a ton of confidence right now, is kind of clicking on all cylinders. Yeah, I think watching the way that he plays and the way that they kind of dissect golf courses is definitely something that we can learn from. Yeah, just asking him questions. We play a ton of practice rounds together, stay a lot on the road, so kind of picking his brain about certain things has been definitely helpful.

Q. Valspar did a mural in Ruston. What was that experience like?

SAM BURNS: Yeah, it was really cool. I think it was such an honor for us to be able to do it where we live and be able to kind of bring that to our community. It was really neat. I think the community has really enjoyed it. It's something that we get to see a bunch whenever we're home and get to drive by there and check it out. So it was a great experience, brought a lot of people together and I think it's great for the community.

THE MODERATOR: All right, Sam, we appreciate your time. Good luck this week.

SAM BURNS: All right. Thank you.