Sam Burns has equalled the lowest round in Open Championship history with a 62 during the second round at Royal Birkdale.
The American matched the Open record on 17 July, the same day Lucas Herbert also recorded a 62 in Southport. The Open reported that both players joined the Championship’s record books during the second day at Birkdale, matching the score Branden Grace had achieved at the same venue nine years earlier.
Burns completed an eight-under-par round to reach 62. His scoring was built around a strong back nine, after birdies at the second and fourth holes had taken him to two under for the front nine. He then made six birdies after the turn to come home in 30.
The final birdie came from a greenside bunker at the last, completing the round and putting Burns alongside Herbert and Grace in the list of players to have shot 62 at The Open. Herbert had reached the mark around 20 minutes before Burns, after a round that included an outward 28.
The achievement came in the second round of the 154th Open, with Royal Birkdale again the setting for a scoring landmark. Grace’s 62 in 2017 had stood alone in Open history until Herbert and Burns matched it on the same afternoon.
Burns’s round added another major-championship 62 to a small group of such scores, while also confirming a striking day of scoring at Birkdale. The Open record remained 62, but by the end of the second round it was no longer held by one player alone.