Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont was always going to either be the realization of a dream or a nightmare for Sam Burns.
The American took the lead at the third major of 2025 with an incredible round of 65, one of the best rounds ever at Oakmont, on Friday. He solidified his position at the top with a 1-under 69 on Saturday to take a one shot lead into the final round.
Burns did not have his best stuff on Sunday, but he held onto the lead through a weather delay and deep into the second nine as the rest of the pack struggled behind him. On the brutal par-4 15th, his fate took a turn for the worse.
In the pouring rain, Burns’ tee shot trickled down to the right side of the left-to-right sloped fairway. Unfortunately for him, the onslaught of water coming down had also made its way into that area over the previous few hours, leaving him with a very squishy lie for his approach shot.
Burns, tied for the lead at 1-over par at the time, understandably wanted some relief for casual water so he could hit out of a drier lie. One official denied him relief, but the 28-year old wasn’t satisfied. He asked a second rules official, who also didn’t offer him any relief.
Burns ended up hitting out of the soggy lie and pulling his approach out to the left before making a double bogey that took him out of the lead for good.
Golf journalist Kyle Posted a video shortly thereafter of exactly what Burns was dealing with.
This is where Burns just hit on 15. pic.twitter.com/DaA0JyX1nQ
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) June 15, 2025
After the round, he talked about the controversial ruling.
“Yeah, that fairway slopes left to right. That’s kind of the low part of the fairway there,” Burns said. “When I walked into it, clearly you could see water coming up. Took practice swings and it’s just water splashing every single time. Called a rules official over, they disagreed. I looked at it again. I thought maybe I should get a second opinion. That rules official also disagreed.
“At the end of the day, it’s not up to me, it’s up to the rules official. That’s kind of that.”
He would make two more bogeys on Nos. 16 and 18 to finish at 4-over par in a tie for seventh as JJ Spaun took home the trophy. His Sunday round of 8-over 78 was the fourth-worst in the field during the final round.
This is the second consecutive heartbreaking loss for Burns after losing in a playoff to Ryan Fox at the RBC Canadian Open the week before the U.S. Open.
Burns will be disappointed with his play to finish the tournament, but some bad luck also went against him down the stretch.
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