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Harare - Dean Burmester has hit "the best shot of his life" on the 18th of Royal Harare Golf Club on Sunday to set up a tournament-winning birdie at the Zimbabwe Open.
The 25-year-old was tied for the lead on 15-under-par as he came down the last hole, and thick crowds added to the pressure, but he confidently fired at the pin and his wedge approach stopped two feet from the cup.
He boxed the putt to go 16-under and secured a one-shot victory over Brasil’s Adilson da Silva.
"I had to go for the flag and that was the moment that did it for me, that shot," said Burmester.
"I knew I had that putt to win and the hole looked very small.
"There was a lot of pressure in the air and I told myself to commit as much as I could."
It was a stoic performance from the Bloemfontein local, who was on fire down the stretch and birdied the 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th on his way to a Sunday 67 and his third Sunshine Tour title.
"If you had told me two years ago that I’d be a three-time champ I would have laughed it off, but now it’s real and we’ll be looking to bigger and better things.
"This is the biggest win in my career and a massive stepping stone and hopefully we can kick on to Europe and America," he said.
The R1.8-million tournament yielded his biggest payday to date, but the win was extra special because he was born in Zimbabwe and grew up playing at Royal Harare, where his mother holds the course record.
"I have lots of memories of this place and the Zimbabweans who played here; guys like Nick Price and Mark McNulty were huge inspirations growing up.
"This is my sixth year in a row playing this tournament and the locals come out to support me every time.
"To pull off a win in front of them is probably the most emotional thing I’ve done in my life," he said.
Da Silva led by four shots at the start of the day, but he was unable to maintain his pace and carded a sluggish 71 during the final round. The 12-time Sunshine Tour champ finished the week in sole second on 15-under-par.
Future stars Erik van Rooyen and JC Ritchie both had a superb week and shared third place on 11-under-par, while Jacques Blauuw finished the week in sole fifth on 10-under.
Scores (RSA unless otherwise specified):
272 - Dean Burmester 67 66 72 67
273 - Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 66 68 68 71
277 - Erik van Rooyen 71 69 67 70, JC Ritchie 67 70 69 71
278 - Jacques Blaauw 69 69 68 72
279 - Ulrich van den Berg 70 73 68 68, Andrew Curlewis 72 72 66 69
280 - Neil Schietekat 74 68 69 69, Christiaan Basson 67 70 72 71
281 - Jbe' Kruger 64 68 73 76
282 - Anthony Michael 74 70 68 70
283 - Tyrone Mordt 73 69 72 69, Mark Murless 73 69 69 72
284 - Rhys West 70 70 74 70, Jacques Kruyswijk 70 71 72 71, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 71 72 70 71, Justin Harding 72 67 72 73
285 - Coert Groenewald 75 72 70 68, Chris Swanepoel 70 69 74 72, Jeff Inglis (ENG) 72 70 71 72
286 - Andrew Georgiou 70 77 69 70, Divan van den Heever 71 71 71 73, Merrick Bremner 72 73 65 76
287 - Mark Williams (ZIM) 68 75 75 69, Danie van Tonder 72 71 72 72, Wallie Coetsee 78 68 69 72, Grant Doverspike (USA) 72 71 70 74
288 - Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM) 72 72 73 71, Doug McGuigan 72 74 71 71, Alan Michell 72 68 76 72, Attie Schwartzel 69 73 74 72, Stuart Smith (BOT) 68 76 72 72
289 - Wynand Dingle 74 72 73 70, Patrick Newcomb (USA) 74 73 71 71, Tyrone Ryan 72 70 75 72, Russel Franz 74 70 73 72, Theunis Spangenberg 73 73 71 72, Jaco Prinsloo 72 74 71 72, Rourke van der Spuy 72 74 71 72, Colin Nel 69 73 74 73
290 - Derik Ferreira 75 71 74 70, Ruan de Smidt 70 72 74 74, Lindani Ndwandwe 71 72 73 74, Justin Turner 71 69 75 75, Werner van Niekerk 79 67 68 76
291 - Andrew McLardy 71 70 76 74
292 - Teboho Sefatsa 70 77 76 69, Michiel Bothma 72 73 75 72, Steve Surry (ENG) 72 75 72 73, Trevor Mahoney 71 73 73 75, Jake Roos 74 71 69 78
293 - Titch Moore 73 72 78 70, Callum Mowat 74 73 76 70, Breyten Meyer 76 70 75 72, Shaun Norris 71 76 74 72, PH McIntyre 73 71 74 75, Daniel Greene 70 74 74 75, Matthew Carvell 76 70 71 76
294 - Michael Hollick 72 69 79 74, TC Charamba (ZIM) 74 72 72 76
295 - Tyrone Ferreira 72 69 81 73, Lyle Rowe 73 74 70 78
298 - Morne Buys 75 70 77 76
299 - Dale Howie (ZIM) 75 72 80 72, Makhetha Mazibuko 72 73 76 78, Omar Sandys 74 71 75 79
300 - Stuart Krog (ZIM) (AMA) 76 71 78 75, Thabang Simon 72 74 75 79
