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How They're Doing: Minnesotans on Pro Tour Money Lists -- April 22
April 22, 2024
Special to www.mngolf.org
By Joseph Oberle
Sarah Burnham Rallies the Locals in Her First LPGA Major
It’s not easy to shoulder the hopes of an entire state of golf fans in your first major tournament, but that’s what the pride of Maple Grove, Sarah Burnham, lugged around Hazeltine National Golf Club at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June. The local hero qualified for the tournament by the slimmest of margins ($3.00 via the money list, due to making her first cut as a pro the previous week) and became the sole Minnesotan in the field at Hazeltine.
Burnham led off the festivities on Thursday morning in the first group, and she brought a few nerves along with her to the first tee. With her parents, family and friends following her in the gallery, Burnham settled her early nerves and birdied No. 4, bogeyed No. 5 and carded another birdie at the par four 10th near the shores of Lake Hazeltine—before some trouble began.
A double bogey on the par 5 11th and another at the par 3 13th veered the round off course. She finished strong with a 30-foot birdie putt that curled in on the left side of the par 3 17th and made par on the last hole to right the ship going into the second round. A large group of well-wishers around the 17th green let Burnham know they were still behind her.
“That was one of the coolest moments I experienced,” Burnham said of her 6-over-par 78 in round one. “Even though I was kind of down today, that kind of lifted my spirits up a lot. I was just so excited to make that long putt in front of those people.”
Coming into round two, Burnham was more relaxed, according to her father Kurt Burnham, and her play showed it. She faced a tough challenge to make the cut (which opened the morning at 3 over par), but rose to it with a great driving performance. Burnham hit 10 fairways in round two (compared to just six in her opening round) and it lead to a one-under par 71.
“That definitely made the difference from [Thursday to Friday],” she said. “I hit more fairways—and it’s easier to stop the ball on the greens from the fairway than from the rough.”
Burnham hovered around the cutline throughout the day, but was all smiles posting her first under-par round at a major.
“Probably one of the best rounds of my career,” she said. “Not the lowest, but it’s something I needed to do to make [the cut],”
Day three was another story, again, as Burnham played the front nine at even par, before running into some difficulty at the 10th, where she made a triple bogey.
“I hit it in the fairway and hit my [approach] shot a little right,” Sarah Burnham said. “And I had this really hard chip and lobbed it and it just rolled down into the [hazard] across the way. So, I kind of [chunked] it out of the hazard and then chipped up. And then I only had a four-foot putt, but I missed it for a triple. That was kind of unfortunate. But other than that, I hung in there okay.”
Burnham finished strong with an eight-foot putt for birdie on 17 (her third birdie in three rounds on the uphill par 3). She looked to the sky in manner of saying “Finally!” after a tough back nine. The birdie put her at nine under par and looking forward to the final round.
“Basically, I am going to just try to hit greens and fairways and just go see how low I can go, really” Burnham said. “There’s nothing to lose; I’ve already made the cut.”
Burnham started on the back nine in the final round and a double bogey on the tough par 4 No. 12 put her behind the eight ball. With two more doubles on the front (hole numbers 5 and 6), the 23-year-old showed a sense of exasperated relief when she rolled in a birdie putt on the par 5 No. 7. Her crowd of fans, however, were elated, and let out a birdie roar they’d been sitting on all day.
“I told my caddy that I recognize so many people, but I’m not sure that I know everyone’s name,” Burnham said of the fans. “But it was really cool to see all them out there.”
Burnham finished the final round at 6-over par (for a four-day total of 303, 15 over par), but the round did not dim her hopes for moving forward.
“I didn’t play my best game out there — I know that,” Burnham said of the final round. “[But] I know I can just compete with the best in the world. If my game is on one week, I could be up on the leaderboard.”
Qualifying for her first major was one huge hurdle in her burgeoning career and making the cut another milestone, but to play that major in front of fans from her home state was icing on the cake. Burnham had a great following the entire tournament—pausing for autographs and photos often during the round—and it is safe to say it is growing. The whole experience made for an unforgettable week.
“It meant a lot,” Burnham said of playing a major in Minnesota. “I know Minnesota, we don’t get a lot of events . . . so, I really wanted to play in this. Just to be able to get my card and play in the major in my home state meant so much to me.
“It was so cool; it’s something I’ll never forget. I’ve never experienced so many fans and support out there. Just like to say, truly, a thank you to all the Minnesotans out there.”
Noted: With Sarah Burnham the only Minnesotan in the field, we had to look to two bordering states for some more “local” participation. Amy Olson from Oxbow, North Dakota and Kim Kaufman from Clark, South Dakota made the field and had plenty of support. (In fact, Olson’s legion of fans all donned light green T-shirts with “Amy’s Army” emblazoned on them and were seen all over the course.) Unfortunately, neither competitor made the cut.
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