When South Africa’s Dean Burmester holed a six-foot birdie putt to defeat Jon Rahm and his fellow Spaniard Josele Ballester in a playoff at LIV Golf Chicago, the double-fist pump was noticeable.
This was no ordinary fist pump. It was an extra second longer.
There was more meaning behind Burmester using both arms to signify the relief of hanging on to the 36-hole lead, despite making bogey on his first three holes of the final round at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Chicago’s suburbs. He managed to force a playoff at nine under par with two-time major winner Rahm and former amateur star Ballester.
“Honestly, there’s been enough going on in my life off the golf course and away from golf; I’m not going to comment further on that,” Burmester said after winning his second LIV Golf title. “The stuff that I’ve had to go through and pull through, it is a lot more difficult than a lot of golf tournaments that you’ll play, but it certainly affected my emotional capability out there in golf.
“[My South African Stinger GC teammates] know that I can get pretty hot-headed. That was certainly showing itself towards the middle of the season. I think I had high expectations to do well because I had a good start, and then, that didn’t come into fruition and I just … fell into the background.”
Whatever the undisclosed issue was for the four-time DP World Tour winner, he was doing a decent job of compartmentalising. He posted a T-4 and a runner-up in the first half of the LIV season. But the big-hitting, smooth-swinging Burmester received a huge boost when his wife Mel ran an ultra-marathon in early June.
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[A T-5] at JCB [LIV Golf UK] was a big turning point for me,” Burmester said. “[During LIV Golf] Virginia, my wife did something amazing; she finished a 90-kilometre marathon [55 miles] in nine-and-a-half hours. For my wife to be able to go through what she’s put her body through and achieve her goal like that was special, and that put things into perspective for me, and what was really going on, off the golf course and on the golf course. It drove me to want to do the same for her and my kids, and that’s what today was about. Because today was not easy. Probably the worst I’ve played in a little while.”
On Sunday, Burmester had squandered a two-shot overnight lead with three bogeys to start his round, but made birdies at the fifth, 12th and 16th to shoot an even-par 71 to match Rahm and Ballester on nine-under (204).
In the playoff, Ballester, who won the 2023 European Amateur and 2024 US Amateur while playing college golf at Arizona State, landed his wedge 12 feet from the hole. Rahm stuck his approach even closer, though neither Spaniard was able to make the putt. Burmester, who had found the rough from the tee, hit his approach to six feet.
“After three bogeys in a row to start I was like, fudge, I don’t know where I’m going,” Burmester said greenside. “My head was nowhere but I just kept at it.”
Despite losing the playoff, Ballester, 21, was elated with his two-under 69 while playing in the final group.
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“It was pretty special,” Ballester said. “I would have definitely signed up for that when the day started. I had a good opportunity the last few holes to maybe close it, but I couldn’t do it, and I’ll learn from it. When you lose in a playoff to a birdie, there’s not much you can do. I think I hit a great second shot. I executed a great putt. It could have gone in. Hopefully next time it does.”
Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz was fourth at eight under. Runaway LIV star Joaquin Niemann, a five-time winner this season, finished in a share 17th at two under and still leads the season points standings over Rahm entering next week’s individual finale at Indianapolis. In the team element in Chicago, Burmester’s Stinger GC, which is captained by Louis Oosthuizen and also features 2011 Masters winner Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace, beat Niemann and Ortiz’s Torque in a playoff for the team title. Schwartzel and Grace made birdie in the team playoff.
Safe to say, it was a cathartic week for Burmester. For team, for country and for himself.
He said: “My caddie [Jason Reynolds] was phenomenal. He was just like, ‘We never give up. We’ve been through too much crap to give up.’ To hang on and have Jason back me like that was great. It was really emotional.”
