More than two decades after Tiger Woods’ famed ‘Better than most’ moment on the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, Sam Burns had a similar Saturday moment at the Players. Only this time, it confused the heck out of one announcer. And he happened to be a former champ as well.
Burns made the cut on the number and was one of the first players to tee off in the third round. But he was seven under on his round when he found the back of the island green with his tee shot, and then he drained a long, snaking putt reminiscent—although not nearly as long—of Tiger’s famous putt in 2001 called by Gary Koch.
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But the man who won at TPC Sawgrass the following year, Craig Perks, thought Burns had badly misjudged his putt at first during PGA Tour Live’s early coverage on Saturday. Have a look and listen as Perks says, “Oh, no,” before booth partner John Swantek picks up the call and says, “Don’t give up on it yet, Perksy. Don’t give up on it yet. . . . How ’bout that?!”
The transition on this call of a long Sam Burns putt from "Oh, no" to "Don't give up on it yet" to "Wow! No way! How 'bout that!" was fun. pic.twitter.com/HatZJU2173
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2024
Whoops. In any event, it led to a great call—and a memorable moment for Burns, who bogeyed 18, but still matched the low round of the week with a 65. Not bad for someone who nearly didn’t have a weekend tee time.
Burns still has a long way to go to win the tournament like Tiger did that year, but, at the very least, he’ll always have that long putt.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
