OAKMONT, Pa. — Cheers to the left of them, silence to the right, here they were, stuck in the middle of golf hell. If Sam Burns and Adam Scott felt alone and abandoned, it is because they were alone and abandoned. The stands around the 16th hole were mostly empty and getting emptier. Fans kept looking away. Burns and Scott did not have that luxury. Burns began the day with the lead, held it when storms swept everyone off the course, and kept it through the 10 holes. Then … then … then: Burns was two-under par as he stood on the 11th tee and 4 over par as he stood on the 17th. Two double-bogeys, two bogeys, two pars, and cruelly, two more holes to play.
After playing magnificent golf for most of the week, Burns shot a back-nine 40 for a final-round 78. If it makes him feel better, and it won’t, Burns was still the low golfer in his group. Scott was 1 over par with five holes left, looking like he might win his second major. Then, in a matter of seconds, he hit his fairway wood into a bunker and uttered the words that would sum up his day: “You gotta be kidding me, Adam.” He went bogey-bogey-double and finished with a 79.
