Big-hitting South African Dean Burmester will be a threat to the stellar field assembled for the year’s first WGC event in Mexico City this week, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Burmester is playing in his second World Golf Championships event after his debut in the 2016 WGC-HSBC Champions where he finished T35. That run included a T4 finish at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai at the end of last year, a clear indication that there’s more to his game that hitting a long ball.
‘It’s not my first time, so I won’t be too overawed by the field,’ Burmester told Compleat Golfer from Mexico City.
‘I played in China and did reasonably well and I’m looking forward to seeing where my game is now in relation to this field. You know it’s such a strong field and I love going up against these guys and testing myself.’
One thing that is new for the 28-year-old is Mexico.
‘Yeah, it’s pretty cool out here. My first time in Mexico City.
‘I went out for dinner with some of the South African guys which was a great way to start off a big week.’
Burmester finished fourth in his last event, the Dimension Data Pr0-Am, which came on the back of his first missed cut in 10 starts before that. Skipping his title defence at the Tshwane Open this week, Burmester will be looking to some familiar features to boost his chances of a strong showing.
‘The course is at altitude which is an advantage for the South Africans for sure. A lot of the guys out there aren’t playing at altitude too often but it’s normal for us.’
Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Brandon Stone and in-form Dylan Frittelli, making his WGC debut, form part of a strong South African contingent at the Club de Golf Chapultepec, a course situated at 7,500 feet above sea level.
‘It’s a world-class field and I’m keen to learn a lot and see which areas I need to improve on to take my game to the next level.’
Star attractions like Jason Day, Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson are all sitting out this week but reigning FedExCup winner Justin Thomas (who enters on the back of his win at The Honda Classic), world No 1 Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth all stand in any potential winner’s path.
Burmester begins his WGC-Mexico adventure at 20:51 with Brett Rumford and Patton Kizzire off the 10th tee.
Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
