For each of the past three days at the Sanderson Farms Championship, players were encouraged to wear particular colors, whether it was pink on Friday for breast cancer awareness or university colors on Saturday.
Yellow was Sunday’s color, specifically “Play Yellow,” which is a PGA Tour-backed initiative spearheaded by Jack Nicklaus and his wife, Barbara, that is designed to bring the entire golf world together to help the 10 million kids treated at local children’s hospitals each year.
For Sam Burns, who took the title Sunday at Country Club of Jackson, wearing yellow hit close to home. Burns’ six-week-old nephew, Burns Walker, son of Burns’ older sister, Tori Walker, is currently at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas battling spinal meningitis.
“He’s been there for at least two weeks,” Burns said. “I’m not sure exactly how much longer. It could be a decent while.”
Full-field scores from the Sanderson Farms Championship
Burns stressed the importance of sticking to his game plan Sunday in Jackson, Mississippi, as he rallied past 54-hole leader Sahith Theegala and then held off another Tour rookie, Cameron Young, for a one-shot victory, the second of his Tour career. However, Burns couldn’t help but think about little Burns during his round.
“It’s really cool [to win],” Burns said. “He won’t remember it … but I’ll definitely remember it and our family will remember it, and just really thinking about my sister and her husband and their family and what they have experienced. It’s been really hard, and so just ask everyone to keep them in their thoughts and prayers.”