GUIDONIA MONTCELIO, Italy -- Sam Burns knew the decision to grow his hair long, shave the sides and have "USA" etched into the side would raise some eyebrows at the Ryder Cup.
So the attention he's had since getting his trim ahead of his Ryder Cup debut is to be expected.
It was the talk of his pre-tournament press conference Wednesday as he revealed one of his close friends put the finishing touches to his haircut by shaving the "USA" tag using a razor.
"I've gotten lots of haircuts the last few months, just I haven't cut the back," Burns said. He added: "When you start shaving things into the side of your head, you're kind of asking for it, I guess. But it's been fun."
It looks similar to Rickie Fowler's 2014 trim, and Burns laughed off any suggestion of being nervous with his "buddy" charged with shaving the tag using the razor. "I wasn't that nervous," he said. "The worst thing that could happen was I get a little nick."
It raised eyebrows elsewhere with teammate Brooks Koepka -- who has also gone for the short on the sides, long on the top look -- saying he wasn't sure about the accuracy of the shaved tag.
"Sam has got a nice Kentucky waterfall going," Koepka said. "It's pretty solid, although the 'USA' that's inscribed in the side of his head, I don't know if he was doing that looking in a mirror because it's not -- 'USA' doesn't look the best, but it makes it even better, I think. It definitely classes it up a little bit."
America Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson was asked about the haircut in his press conference Monday and said he was jealous of their ability to grow their hair that long. "I had no idea he's doing that," Johnson said of Burns. "He's got great hair. I mean, I'd do it if I could do it. I just don't have any hair to do it.
"So they can have fun with it. I've got two, three, four guys who have it short on the sides and long in the front and long in the back. You know what, hey, more power to them. Hey, if they are more comfortable, that's what it's about."