Sam Burns blasted over ‘MAGA’ hunting brag

Ryder Cup star Sam Burns has been widely condemned after sharing a picture of himself with a dead deer.

The 28-year-old American posted the picture on his Instagram page on Monday, with the caption: “Deer hunting is great again!”

The five-time PGA Tour winner was wearing a camouflage version of president-elect Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap in the photo.

That provoked a stinging response from many other users of the image and video-sharing platform.

“Eff you doing this to a sweet deer,” wrote one follower.

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Another replied: “Fade Sam Burns 2025 and beyond. This is so highly disappointing.”

Yet another said they would be unfollowing Burns’ account, describing the image as “gross”.

However, many others defended the world No.19, whilst several of his fellow PGA Tour pros appeared to endorse it by liking the image, amongst them Billy Horschel, Rickie Fowler.

Nick Dunlap, who made headlines by winning on the PGA Tour as an amateur earlier this year, replied: “Where does one get such a hat?”

Tour pros taking an interest in hunting is nothing new, of course. The aftermath of Brian Harman’s Open Championship victory at Royal Liverpool in 2023 was dominated by questions about his passion for the activity.

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This prompted the left-hander to be christened the ‘Butcher of Hoylake’.

Explaining what he likes about hunting in a 2014 interview with Golf Digest, Harman said: “I’m a big outdoorsman. I love hunting, my brother and I do a lot of turkey hunting. I love to deer hunt, I do a lot of bow hunting, we duck hunt. I killed the biggest deer of my life two years ago.

“For me, I don’t shoot deer that aren’t mature. A deer’s life is that they live about seven or eight years, so most deer die when they’re five-and-a-half to six-years-old, so for me I’m trying to shoot a deer once he gets to four. Once he gets to four-and-a-half, I’ll shoot him.

He added: “A lot of people say it’s cruel to kill an animal, but for me instead of depending on a grocery store, I go and I kill an animal that’s been roaming free its entire life and is about to die anyway.

“And I butcher it myself, I take care of all the meat myself and then I eat it or I give it to someone to eat or I cook it for someone else to eat.”

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor