Sam Burns breaks driver at FedEx St. Jude Championship: what are PGA Tour rules on damaged clubs?

At the halfway stage of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, Sam Burns was one shot off the lead, hoping to clinch his sixth PGA Tour title over the weekend. However, the wheels came off somewhat in Saturday’s third round, in which he broke his driver on the ninth tee.

Why did Sam Burns break his driver?

The 28-year-old was 2-under par for his round as he began the last hole on the front nine, but was already slightly hot under the collar after a bogey at the 7th. After pulling his tee shot on 9 left into the trees, he slammed his driver into the ground, causing the head to fly off.

That forced Burns into teeing off with other clubs on the back nine, although under the current rules, he could’ve used his driver had he been able to fix it.

Current USGA rules on damaged clubs

As of 2023, USGA (United States Golf Association) Rule 4.1 states: “A player is allowed to keep using and/or to repair any club damaged during the round, no matter what the damage and even if the player damaged it in anger.”

The governing body for golfing rules in the United States explains that “the player is able to choose whether to continue using that club in its damaged state or to use another club; whereas previously, for example, a player who damaged a putter in anger was not allowed to use it for the rest of the round (even if it was still in a usable form) and so ended up having to putt with a wedge or another club.”

There was, however, no chance of Burns simply being able to replace his snapped driver due to the way in which it was broken. Back to Rule 4.1: “A player is not allowed to replace a damaged club, except when it is damaged during the round by an outside influence or natural forces, or by someone other than the player or his or her caddie.”

In a sense, Burns was right to be angry with his tee shot as it cost him a double-bogey and saw him begin to fall out of contention. Without his driver, he completed the back nine in level-par, which was also his score (70) for the round. That leaves him on -10 for the tournament, seven shots adrift of leader Hideki Matsuyama.

Will Burns be able to use a driver in Sunday’s final round in the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship?

Assuming he can get his hands on a spare, the Louisianan will be back to his full complement of 14 clubs on Sunday. A new round means a clean slate for all golfers, angry ones included.