Former LSU Star Golfer Sam Burns Tied For Masters Lead After Opening Round

April 9, 2026 Andre Champagne Featured, Men's Golf, More LSU Sports 0
Sam Burns, LSU
After one round at the Masters Tournament, former LSU golfer and Shreveport native Sam Burns is tied for first alongside reigning champion Rory McIlroy after firing a 5-under 67 in his opening round. (Photo by LSU Athletics)

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

Even at one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world, LSU is still making headlines.

After one round at the Masters Tournament, former LSU golfer and Shreveport native Sam Burns is tied for first alongside reigning champion Rory McIlroy. Burns fired a 5-under-par 67 in his opening round.

Burns came out strong at Augusta National, eagling his second hole of the day before recording pars on the next three. He hit his first bump on hole six with a bogey but quickly bounced back with a birdie on hole eight to finish the front nine at 2-under 34.

He carried that momentum into the back nine, opening with pars on holes 10 and 11 before notching birdies on 12 and 13. Burns added another birdie on 15 and closed with three straight pars, posting a bogey-free 3-under 33 on the back nine to finish at 67.

It’s a welcome turnaround for Burns, who had struggled at the Masters in recent years—shooting 20-over par across his previous nine rounds, hitting just 58.3% of greens, and recording 12 double bogeys or worse.

On Thursday, however, Burns shot 5-under with no double bogeys.

Burns is scheduled to tee off Friday morning at 11:32 a.m. CT for the second round. He will be grouped with Cameron Smith and Jake Knapp.

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