burns to play in zurich classic
teams with Tour veteran William McGirt;
Rahm enters with Bryan
Jon Rahm, who rocketed to #3 in the world
after his first full season on the PGA TOUR,
has committed to play in his first Zurich Classic,
announced Steve Worthy, CEO of the Fore!Kids
Foundation, producer of the tournament.
Rahm will partner with Wesley Bryan, who
also won a title in his first fulltime year on the
TOUR.
In addition to the Rahm-Bryan team,
Worthy also announced that Sam Burns, who
just claimed his first Web.com contest this week,
will team with PGA TOUR veteran William
McGirt, who won the Memorial Tournament
in 2016.
“Jon has quickly established himself as a fan
favorite for his passion on the course and the
quality of his game,” said Worthy. “We welcome
him to his first Zurich Classic and welcome back
Wesley to his second,” Worthy added.
Rahm won his first title last year at the 2017
Farmers Insurance Open and claimed another
victory this season at the 2018 Career Builder
Challenge to vault him to third in the world
golf rankings.
In the last 18 months, he has recorded two
wins on the PGA TOUR and two more on
the European Tour, accelerating his rise in the
world rankings from 45th to third. He recorded
four top-10 finishes in the FedExCup playoff
tournaments that concluded last season.
In his first full season on the TOUR, he
recorded 11 top-10 finishes, behind only Jordan
Spieth and Justin Thomas. He also won the Sir
Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award on the
European Tour.
Competing for Arizona State, he became
the first player to twice win the Ben Hogan
Award, given to the best collegiate golfer. He
also won the Jack Nicklaus Award, given to the
top Division I collegiate golfer and played on
the 2014 World Cup team and the 2015 Palmer
Cup squad.
During his collegiate career, he recorded 11
victories, second only to former Sun Devil Phil
Mickelson. He won the 2016 individual Pac-12
title and was a three-time All-American. He also
won the 2015 Mark McCormack Medal and the
2014 World Amateur Championship, breaking
a record held by Jack Nicklaus. Overseas in
his native Spain, he won the Spanish Amateur
Championship back-to-back in 2014-15.
Bryan started his first full season on TOUR
fast as well, winning the RBC Heritage the
week before he made his debut at the Zurich
Classic last season, when he finished tied for
29th teaming with Ryan Blaum.
In the weeks leading up to his first victory
last year, he claimed two fourths and a tie for
seventh in the space of a month.
He comes from a golfing family. His older
brother George IV was a three-time All-
American at the University of South Carolina
and his sister played for the College of
Charleston. His father, George, played in the
1999 PGA Championship and now runs the
George Bryan Golf Academy.
While on the Web.com Tour, Bryan won
three titles, including the 2016 Chitimacha
Louisiana Open presented by NACHER.
Burns, who starred at LSU, took an eighth
at the Honda Classic this year, his fourth start
on the PGA TOUR. Earlier, in his third start as
a professional, he finished second at the Web.
com Club Colombia Championship behind
Ben Taylor, who also played for LSU.
The Shreveport native broke through
this week by winning the Savannah Golf
Championship and now ranks fourth on the
Web.com money list. The top 25 players on the
money list at the end of the season earn their
cards on the PGA TOUR for the next season.
Burns has made the cut in five of his six PGA
TOUR starts this season.
McGirt is a TOUR veteran with 212 starts in
his career going back to 2011. His best finishes
this season have been a tie for eighth in the
RSM Classic and a tie for 10th in the Shriners
Hospital for Children Open.
He has made the FedExCup playoffs for the
last seven seasons.
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