PGA Tour pro Sam Burns RIPS golf ball rollback idea: "I think it's pretty silly!

PGA Tour pro Sam Burns also isn't happy with the proposals from the R&A, USGA to rollback the golf ball in elite competition from 2026.

Ben Smith's picture
Thu, 16 Mar 2023
PGA Tour pro Sam Burns RIPS golf ball rollback idea: "I think it's pretty silly!

PGA Tour pro Sam Burns is looking to win the Valspar Championship for the third time in his career, but the prospect of a three-peat doesn't immediately appear on his mind. 

You can add Burns to the growing list of tour pros who are not too fond of the idea to rollback the golf ball from 2026. 

The proposals from the USGA and R&A to modify the testing conditions for balls used in elite competitions has been met with a mixed response. 

Bryson DeChambeau? He reckons the idea is absolutely atrociousJustin Thomas? "It's so bad for the game of golf," he said. 

Paul McGinley believes these 'impulsive' opinions from the PGA Tour's best players are "doing the game no favours". 

You can read more of what McGinley had to say here

But back to Burns, who said: 

"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."

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"I wish I could pinpoint what it was..."

Burns, 26, captured his maiden PGA Tour title in May 2021 here at the Innisbrook Resort. 

He added the Sanderson Farms Championship to his haul in between and claimed victory once again here last year via a playoff over Davis Riley. 

You might remember at the time hilarious footage of Burns doing a 'birdie dance' with Riley as youngsters caught the attention of golf fans. 

So what is it about this place that suits his eye and brings out his best game?

Burns said: 

"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."

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