Bloemfontein local Dean Burmester will make his PGA Tour debut at the Puerto Rico Open this week, where the world number 87 hopes to play his way to The Masters.
The six-time Sunshine Tour winner received an invitation to play at Coco Beach this week due to his stellar run of form that includes top-fives from his last four starts and runner-up finishes at the Dimension Data Pro-Am and Eye of Africa PGA Championship.
He’s hoping to make an impact on his PGA Tour debut, and will have fellow South Africans Thomas Aiken, Retief Goosen, Rory Sabbatini, Tyrone van Aswegen, and Dawie van der Walt there to help him across the pond.
Burmester plays out of Schoeman Park Golf Club and was a member of the Sunshine Big Easy Tour for two years before finding his feet as a professional. He’s come a long way since then, and could go even further if he plays with the same prowess that earned him the Investec Cup trophy a fortnight ago.
The goals have lined themselves up for Burmester, who must play well enough this week to make the Shell Houston Open and then reach the top 50 in the world in order to play at Augusta. They are lofty targets, but the 26-year-old has shown enough class in South Africa to succeed abroad.
