Sam Burns & Cameron Young Enter the Top 6 with Strong Play in Austin

Sam Burns emerged victorious in his first and last career start at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club.

After 24 years, the tournament won't be on the PGA Tour schedule moving forward. And in the event's swan song, Burns dominated the championship match with eight birdies in his last 10 holes to clinch a 6-and-5 victory over Cameron Young.

However, the signature moment of Burns’ Sunday wasn’t his defeat of Young, but rather his semifinal win against his best friend, Scottie Scheffler.

Burns and Scheffler needed 21 holes to declare a winner. The world No. 1 missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 20th hole that would have given him the win, and Burns took advantage on the next bonus hole, hitting the green from a fairway bunker and making a 15-footer for birdie to advance.

“This week is as mentally exhausting as it is physically,” Burns, who played 119 total holes throughout the tournament, said afterward. “I think after 10 holes this morning, my caddie, Travis, kind of gave me a good kick in the butt and said, ‘Come on man, let's go, you got this.’ And I really needed it at the time.”

The 26-year-old Burns, who hasn’t played a Ryder Cup but competed in the 2014 Junior Ryder Cup with Young, now sits inside the automatic qualifying threshold on the U.S. Ryder Cup points list as his fifth Tour victory moved him from No. 19 to five.

Meanwhile, Young, like Burns, dramatically beat one of the world’s best players in the semifinals. The reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year rallied from 2 down with three holes left to play and defeated Rory McIlroy on the 19th hole with a birdie. It was Young's first event with his new caddie, Paul Tesori, who had looped for Webb Simpson since 2011.

The 25-year-old, though, failed to seal the deal once again, settling for his sixth runner-up finish in the last two seasons. However, Young, a first-time Team USA Presidents Cup member in '22 with Burns, also moved inside the Ryder Cup standings' top-6, jumping four spots to No. 3.

Burns’ and Young’s semifinal triumphs set up a star-studded consolation match between McIlroy and Scheffler, which the Northern Irishman won, 2 and 1. But despite Scheffler's consolation loss, it was the 26-year-old’s fourth top-5 finish in his past five starts, and he still sits atop the U.S. Ryder Cup rankings by a wide margin heading into his Masters title defense next week.

“I have a couple things to work on before Augusta,” said Scheffler, the Match Play’s defending champion and 2021 runner-up, “but definitely plenty of confidence going in and great memories from Austin. It's been a fun three years for this tournament for me and I'm sad that it won't be back.”

Crediti foto: Getty Images

U.S. Team Captain Zach Johnson first announced the 2023 qualifying structure last year. Points in 2023 are awarded as follows:

- 1 point per $1,000 earned at regular PGA Tour events beginning January 1, including the Zurich Classic and WGC events, through the BMW Championship (August 20)

- 2 points per $1,000 earned for winner of the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open

- 1.5 points per $1,000 earned for all others that make the cut at the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open

- No points available at PGA Tour opposite-field events

Points qualification will conclude immediately after the second FedEx Cup Play-Off event (BMW Championship) on August 20, 2023, with the top six eligible players on the points list securing spots on the U.S. Team.

The six remaining slots on the U.S. Team will be Captain’s Selections and will be announced by Johnson following the 2023 Tour Championship.

For a full list of the Top 100 in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, click here.