Burmester wins South African Open Championship by three shots for second straight win on home soil
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Dean Burmester secured back-to-back wins at home after shooting a 4-under 68 in the final round of the South African Open Championship.
Burmester started Sunday two shots off the lead. He made six birdies and two bogeys in tricky conditions to finish at 11 under overall for a three-stroke victory. He won the Joburg Open last week.
Italian Renato Paratore (70), Sweden's Jesper Svensson (71) and South African Ryan van Velzen (73) tied for second.
Van Velzen shared the overnight lead with countryman Jayden Schaper (74), who finished tied for fifth on 7 under overall.
The 34-year-old Burmester now has four European tour victories.
“Back-to-back. I’ve never done that before so that was special. It’s obviously one as a South African that I’ve always wanted to win,” Burmester said. "It’s a tournament I watched growing up and I watched a lot of legends.”
He appeared in danger of failing to make the cut — or having to pull out of the tournament — after not feeling well on Friday. But Burmester made it through to the weekend on the number after shooting a 74 and followed that with a 65 on Saturday to put himself in contention.
Burmester said it was extra special to win this week with his family in attendance.
“Last week I won and my family wasn’t there,” he said. “This week I won and my wife and my two kids were there. So it means everything, just to have my two boys there seeing me out front, living out my dream — that’s everything so I’m very thankful.”
Burmester and former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel were the only LIV Golf players in the field. Schwartzel shot a 76 on Sunday to finish at even par for the tournament in a tie for 45th.
The only player in the top 100 in the rankings was No. 85 Thriston Lawrence, the South African who shot a 5-under 67 for the best round on Sunday. He finished at 6 under for the tournament in a tie for 10th.
This was the second of three straight events in South Africa to open the 2024 season on the European tour. Burmester will go for a third straight win at the Alfred Dunhill Championship next week.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
