Sam Burns changed his plans for The Open Championship after his baby girl Belle arrived early on July 3, and the decision turned a family moment into a late major-week move. Burns had expected to stay home, but he made the trip last week and was on the course by Monday at Royal Birkdale.
That is why his name is being searched now. Burns had originally treated last month’s U.S. Open as his last major of the year, then found himself weighing a different call when the baby he and Caroline were expecting came early, with the due date set for Tuesday, July 14. Instead of sitting out, he decided late last week to go to England, where he has been building into the tournament with nine-hole practice rounds.
The numbers behind the choice show why it mattered. Belle was born more than a week before she had been due, and Burns arrived in town on Monday before playing another nine-hole practice round Wednesday at Royal Birkdale. He also went out Wednesday morning for the back nine alongside Scottie Scheffler, a sign that the adjustment was not just logistical but competitive.
Burns said he was expecting to be at home and was not even sure he could get there mentally. He described it as a strange balance between wanting to be present for a new baby and for his family, and deciding whether he could leave. He put it plainly: only four majors come around each year, and if this had been any other event, he likely would have stayed put. That is the pressure point in the story — the pull of a one-week-old daughter against the pull of a championship start.
There is also a family layer to the trip that runs through the week. Burns said his two-year-old son Bear is already enjoying big brother duties, while the rest of the family remained back in Louisiana, where his parents are helping out. That left Burns to navigate the tournament first and the home front second, even after a break of at least four days without touching a club once Belle was born.
He comes into The Open with recent form that makes the late decision harder to dismiss. Burns finished runner-up at the U.S. Open, added a T12 at the Travelers Championship, has four straight top-20 finishes and nearly played his way into a playoff at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday last month. His best result at The Open remains a T31 in 2024, so this week gives him both a test and a chance to turn a family interruption into another strong major run.
The unresolved question now is not whether Burns can get there. He already did. It is whether the version of him that reached Royal Birkdale after Belle’s early arrival can turn that disruption into one more result that fits the stretch he is already on.
