Sam Burns stays hot, pulls within shot of leaders at Shriners Open

The upwind mightiness person cooled successful Las Vegas connected Friday, but the hottest subordinate successful play is inactive sizzling.

Sam Burns, a victor past week successful Mississippi, fired an 8-under 63 astatine TPC Summerlin connected Friday and stood astatine 13-under 129 headed to the play astatine the Shriners Children’s Open.

That enactment him 1 changeable down leaders Chad Ramey and Sungjae Im, who changeable 65 connected Friday and has played the archetypal 36 holes bogey-free. Ramey, playing successful the last group, birdied his past hole, No. 9, to drawback Im.

Adam Schenk joined Burns astatine 13 under, portion erstwhile Las Vegas nonmigratory Aaron Wise had the debased circular of the week (62) to get to 12 under. Seven players are different changeable back, including Matthew Wolff and UNLV postgraduate Harry Hall.

Burns was a little-known subordinate a twelvemonth agone connected the PGA Tour, ranked 168th successful the satellite successful January. He present sits astatine No. 18 aft 2 wins and 2 seconds during the past 5 months. After his archetypal 2 days successful Las Vegas, helium is poised to determination up adjacent higher.

Burns is taking it each successful stride.

“I deliberation there’s a batch of large radical connected our team,” helium said. “They person done a truly bully occupation of conscionable trying to assistance america improve, assistance america get amended successful definite areas, and truthful that’s what we’ve been looking at, conscionable trying to amended successful those definite areas and conscionable proceed to effort to get better.”

It’s hard to ideate thing amended than his archetypal 2 rounds this week. He’s had 15 birdies and a azygous mistake — a treble bogey erstwhile helium recovered the h2o connected the 17th connected Thursday.

Im has been flawless successful his 2 rounds, but helium knows determination is simply a agelong mode to go.

“Even though I’m successful the lead, there’s 2 days near to play,” helium said. “I similar to effort to support focused connected my crippled and effort to instrumentality it 1 changeable astatine a time.”

Schenk followed up an opening 64 with a 65 connected Friday with a scorecard that included 9 3s. He gave each the recognition to his putter.

“Just made the putts I needed to make, stayed retired of occupation for the astir part, and that’s astir it,” said Schenk, who is looking for his archetypal vocation win. “I conscionable took attraction of a batch of the scorable holes.”

Scoring was much hard Friday than it was during cleanable conditions during the opening round. The greeting question dealt with rainfall and drizzle for astir 2 hours, portion the day question had to contend with upwind gusts up to 25 mph.

Play ne'er stopped during the rain, which Wolff called annoying.

“It was connected and off, and erstwhile it was on, it seemed similar it lasted for awhile,” Wolff said. “It was conscionable capable to wherever it was getting your worldly bedewed and affecting you a small bit, but not capable to truly marque you halt oregon anything.”

Wise said the rainfall softened things up conscionable capable to marque already bully scoring conditions adjacent better, and helium expects much of the aforesaid this weekend.

“You’re going to person to spell retired determination this play and marque a clump of birdies and, barring immoderate benignant of upwind conditions, it’s going to beryllium benignant of a shootout,” Wise said. “So spell home, get immoderate rest, travel backmost acceptable to marque a clump of birdies tomorrow.”

That shouldn’t beryllium an contented for Burns, who won’t accent nary substance what the play holds.

“If consciousness comfortable,” helium said. “At the extremity of the day, it’s conscionable golf. It’s not thing crazy.”

Greg Robertson covers play for the Review-Journal. He tin beryllium reached astatine grobertson@reviewjournal.com.