Sam Burns will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the 154th British Open at Royal Birkdale, holding a 10-under-par total after a consistent weekend performance. Burns carded a record-tying 62 in the second round on Friday and followed it with a 65 on Saturday.

Ryan Fox and Si Woo Kim are tied for second place at 8 under par. Fox posted a 62 on Saturday, while Kim shot a 67. Lucas Herbert and Ryan Gerard are a shot further back at 7 under. Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Åberg, and Jackson Suber are tied at 6 under, with Tommy Fleetwood at 5 under.

Burns, a native of Louisiana, was not initially expected to compete in the tournament. His wife, Caroline, had recently given birth to their daughter, Belle, on July 3, and her due date was July 4. Despite this, Caroline encouraged Burns to play, assuring him she had things handled at home.

"This golf tournament was honestly so far off of my radar and expectations of playing," Burns said. "I mean, 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."

Following a difficult opening round where Burns bogeyed three consecutive holes to finish at 3-over 73, he discussed the situation with his wife. "After finishing bogey, bogey, bogey on Thursday, I was pretty upset — that’s an understatement," Burns recalled. "I talked to Caroline, texted with her, and she basically told me, like, ‘You’re over there, and I’m good at home. We’re good. You need to be where your feet are.’"

Burns has been close to winning major championships before. He had a strong position in the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont but faltered in the final round after a rain delay. In the most recent U.S. Open at Shinnecock, he contended on the back nine but struggled with crucial putts. He has reflected on these experiences and credited observation of his friend Scottie Scheffler's approach to major championships.

"At some of these golf courses where you’re penalized a little bit more than a typical [PGA] Tour golf course we play, I think I hadn’t quite learned that the hard way yet," Burns said. "It took a bit longer for me. It helped that I got to play a lot of golf with the best player on the planet [Scheffler] and kind of watch what he does."

Burns acknowledged that the margins for error in majors are small and that executing under pressure has been a challenge. "Ultimately, it comes down to being able to go out there and execute," he stated. "I feel like when I’ve been close I haven’t been able to do that as well as I would like to. That will be the game plan for tomorrow — just try to go out there and give myself as many looks as possible on the greens and see what happens."