Feeling comfort and confidence like he hasn’t in more than a decade since turning pro, Bronson Burgoon enjoyed a bogey-free Saturday at Memorial Park and sits inside the top 10 of the Houston Open.
Burgoon, who is playing 30 minutes from his hometown in The Woodlands this week, opened his third round with three straight birdies and finished with a 4-under 66 on Moving Day.
The sensation of joy was so unrecognizable for the oft-injured Burgoon that the 38-year-old told reporters after his round the experience made him feel like it was his first time on Tour.
“It’s weird, [I am] 38 but I feel like a rookie to be honest with you” he said.
Burgoon, who led Texas A&M to a national championship in 2009, was honest in assessing his career and how it has been derailed by constant shoulder trouble.
He said physically he wasn’t comfortable playing in a tournament until October of last year despite first earning his PGA Tour card in 2016.
“You know, my whole career’s been plagued with me having to manipulate something, my body, my shoulder in particular,” Burgoon said. “Just made everything really difficult. Now I feel like I can actually play a little golf.”
The strong form isn’t totally out of left field for the Texas native. He’s finished T-16 or better in all three Korn Ferry Tour events he’s played in this year, most recently earning a T-11 placement at the Astara Chile Classic.
“I’m excited to be enjoying golf for the first time in a decade and a half, two decades,” he said. “I feel very grateful to be out there playing, honestly, and just having fun.”
An individual state champion in high school, Burgoon called his collegiate career “subpar.”
“I was struggling with my shoulder then,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what it was, and I wish I would have got it operated on back in 2006. It’s been a long time.”