Sam Burns Shoots 62, Leads AT&T Byron Nelson at Halftime

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Sam Burns
Sam Burns hits on the 18th hole during round two of the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch on May 14, 2021 in McKinney, TX. (Photo by Matthew Stockman via Getty Images)

Sam Burns was as brilliant as the Texas sun on Friday, producing a bogey-free 10-under 62 to secure the halftime lead at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Starting the day three off the pace, the 24-year old Burns birdied the first, then added three more on Nos. 5, 6, and 9 to turn on 32 and move into the lead chase pack at 11 under. Following a par on the 10th, the LSU product caught fire, and reeled off four straight birdies on 11-14 to secure the outright lead, and then padded it with back-to-back closing gains to reach 17-under.

“Yeah, everything out there felt great,” said Burns. “Just feel like we got into a good rhythm throughout the round.

“Made a run right there on the back nine, and so it was nice to be able to finish it off with two birdies at the end.

“Good way to end the day. Just trying to get a good game plan out here for tomorrow and let’s see what happens.”

Two back was Alex Noren, who also signed for a bogey-free scorecard – his was an 8-under 64 featuring eight birdies, four a side.

“Most of the stuff was working pretty good,” said Noren. “You know, it was just a nice day.

“You know, I thought it was going to be a — it was a lot windier than yesterday. We played early yesterday morning. It was nice, no wind, and today I putted well.

“Got it going, and so did the other guys in my group, and it helps.”

The Swede was 15-under par, one clear of Kyoung Hoon Lee who posted a second consecutive 65 to reach 14 under.

Doc Redman (67) was next at 13 under, followed by J.J. Spaun (69) who rounded out the top five on the leaderboard at 12 under.

Overnight co-leader Jordan Spieth posted 70 and headlines a group of six players at T6 on 11 under.

“I thought shooting 5-under was kind of a good goal today if I played well,” said Spieth. “Just got off to a poor start.

“I mean, being — even through those first four on the back nine, I think the scoring average will probably be one to one and a half under par on those holes.

“So losing a couple to the field there got me a little frustrated. If you kind of tap the brakes a little when the scores are going to be low you feel like you have to play catchup.

“I just had plenty of looks. I didn’t make many putts at all today. It was nice to cap off a birdie on the last hole to really feel like I had — within three is certainly a lot better as you head into a weekend when you got to score.”

2021 AT&T Byron Nelson

Top-5 Leaders: Round 2
Pos-Player-To Par-(Rd 2)
1. Sam Burns -17 (-10)
2. Alex Noren -15 (-8)
3. Kyoung Hoon Lee -14 (-7)
4. Doc Redman -13 (-4)
5. J.J. Spaun -12 (-3)


Material from the PGA Tour Media was used to compile this report.


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