SOUTHPORT, UK — Sam Burns was not even planning to tee off at Royal Birkdale until his daughter was born early, but now stands on the brink of his first major at the British Open.
The American will take a two-shot lead into Sunday's final round after backing up his second round 62, which tied the lowest score ever at a major, with a 65 to get to 10 under par for the tournament.
"Whatever happens, I know that I can accept the outcome, and life's going to move on. I'll get to go home and see my family," said the world number 18.
"I hope I'm taking some hardware with me, but if I'm not, that's fine too."
Burns' wife Caroline was due to give birth to the couple's second child two days before the tournament began.
But when baby Belle arrived 11 days early, she was the driving force behind convincing Burns to make the trip across the Atlantic Ocean.
"This golf tournament was honestly so far off of my radar and expectations of playing," he added.
"Caroline's due date was Tuesday this week. She was like four days late with our son. I just didn't think there was any possible way and little Belle had different plans for us.
"Even after she was born, after a couple of days, I wasn't thinking much about it. Caroline was kind of like, 'so what are you thinking for next week?' I was like, 'I don't know. Should we talk about it?' She was like, 'yeah'.
"Ultimately she's the one that really encouraged me to come over and play. She basically said 'I've got this at home. Go over there and give it your best', and here we are."
Burns came agonizingly close to his major breakthrough just last month when he missed out by one shot at the US Open to Wyndham Clark.
