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Cape Town - In his three opening holes on Sunday, Dean Burmester made sure no-one else was going to win the Tshwane Open.
And he carded a six-under-par 65 at Pretoria Country Club as he marched to a commanding three-stroke victory in the tournament co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour.
He made three consecutive birdies to start his final round, and three more from the sixth to the ninth to turn in 29 and take the wind out of his pursuers’ sails.
Finland’s Mikko Korhonen and Spaniard Jorge Campillo shared second, with American Peter Uihlein in fourth.
“I didn’t think I’d wrapped it up with those three birdies in the first three holes,” said Burmester afterwards, “but it turned out to be that way. Those three birdies calmed my nerves.”
The birdie on the first hole was probably the one which flipped the switch that turned the Burmester machine on. He hadn’t made birdie on the first all week, and had bogeyed it twice, and he suggested after the third round it was the most difficult hole on the bourse.
But when he rolled in a 45-footer for birdie, the game was over for everyone else. “I sank probably the best putt I hit all week on one,” he said, “and I was actually quite nervous when I was standing over it. When I saw the line it was on and the speed, I knew it was in when it was two metres from the hole.
“And then it just kind of snowballed. I birdied two, and before I knew it, I’d birdied three in a row. It was a lovely start.”
After the turn, he kept pushing, despite having a lead that was looking increasingly impregnable, and he made his seventh birdie on the 11th. But then came a bogey.
“I’ve been in similar positions in the past,” said Burmester of his tactic to continue pressing, “and I’ve backed off a little bit. I could have made it a lot closer than I should have. The great players in the world tend to win by 10.”
He made birdie on 12 to rectify the little slip, one more on 14, before bogeys on 16 and 17 saw his winning margin trimmed. “My only goal was to hit good shots,” he said.
“The more I hit, the more birdie putts I’d have, and the less stress I’d have. I probably shouldn’t have gone at the flag on 11, but other than that, I think I played a pretty good round.”
It was his seventh victory on the Sunshine Tour, but his first on the European Tour.
“There are no words to describe the feelings I have,” said Burmester.
“I’m obviously elated and I’m looking forward to a full season on the European Tour.”
The victory capped a run of three top-10s and a share of 11th in four of his five tournaments this year and top-five finishes in the Tshwane Open the previous two years. He’s been knocking on the door of the international stage for some time now, and the victory vindicates so much of the work he has done.
“I had planned to play in Morocco, where I was in on an invitation,” he said, “and then two events in China, which I wasn’t in yet. Now my next year on the European Tour is taken care of, and I get in to all their big events. I’m excited to go and play in their premier events.”
As if to underline this big step, the Official World Golf Ranking on Monday will have him inside the top 100 in the world. He belongs there.
Scores:
266 - Dean Burmester 68 68 65 65
269 - Mikko Korhonen 66 69 67 67, Jorge Campillo 67 69 65 68
270 - Peter Uihlein 69 70 65 66
271 - Alexander Bjork 65 67 68 71
272 - Jacques Blaauw 69 68 70 65, Paul Dunne 73 68 65 66, James Morrison 67 66 70 69
274 - Justin Walters 66 68 71 69, Peter Karmis 67 67 69 71, Ben Eccles 66 73 64 71
275 - Hennie Otto 68 70 69 68, Richie Ramsay 68 70 69 68, Dylan Frittelli 71 71 65 68
276 - Adilson Da Silva 69 70 70 67, Gregory Havret 65 70 70 71, Thomas Aiken 72 62 69 73
277 - Romain Langasque 68 74 68 67, Maximilian Kieffer 73 66 69 69, Duncan Stewart 66 72 69 70, Oliver Fisher 71 70 62 74
278 - Thomas Detry 71 70 71 66, Graeme Storm 68 70 73 67, Matthieu Pavon 71 70 68 69, Bernd Ritthammer 72 70 66 70, Marc Warren 68 70 67 73, Zander Lombard 69 70 65 74, Scott Jamieson 67 65 68 78
279 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 71 69 73 66, Pep Angles 68 74 71 66, Trevor Immelman 71 70 69 69, Jamie Donaldson 70 67 72 70, Soomin Lee 68 69 72 70, Lee Slattery 71 67 71 70, Jaco Ahlers 71 70 68 70, Jordan Smith 69 68 70 72
280 - Darren Fichardt 69 70 75 66, Lucas Bjerregaard 71 70 73 66, Anthony Michael 75 65 71 69, Paul Peterson 70 72 68 70, Matthew Southgate 67 71 71 71, Louis de Jager 68 71 70 71, Wallie Coetsee 71 68 69 72, Jose-Filipe Lima 71 69 68 72
281 - Marcus Armitage 68 72 73 68, Renato Paratore 73 69 70 69, Jean Hugo 72 70 70 69, Robert Rock 69 72 70 70, Anthony Wall 70 72 69 70, David Drysdale 72 68 69 72, Alexander Knappe 72 68 68 73, Vaughn Groenewald 70 72 66 73, Steve Webster 70 67 70 74, Ross McGowan 69 69 68 75, Dawie Van der Walt 72 67 66 76
282 - Francesco Laporta 70 71 76 65, Damien Perrier 69 73 72 68, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 72 67 71 72, David Horsey 70 69 71 72, Ricardo Gonzalez 71 69 70 72, Justin Hicks 68 73 68 73
283 - Ricardo Gouveia 69 72 73 69, Haydn Porteous 65 72 74 72, Chris Hanson 68 71 72 72, Simon Dyson 68 73 68 74, Daniel Brooks 68 74 67 74, Chris Swanepoel 70 72 67 74
284 - Titch Moore 71 69 70 74, Daniel Im 74 67 68 75, Jacques Kruyswijk 69 69 70 76
285 - Keenan Davidse 68 74 73 70, Ruan de Smidt 70 72 72 71, Jaco Prinsloo 69 73 69 74, Sam Walker 71 71 69 74, Hennie du Plessis 70 70 70 75
286 - Edoardo Molinari 69 73 75 69, Colin Nel 71 71 72 72, Garth Mulroy 67 68 75 76
287 - Lyle Rowe 70 72 73 72, Chris Paisley 70 68 73 76
290 - Pelle Edberg 71 70 73 76
