Dean Burmester fired a closing 65 to win his first European Tour title in emphatic fashion at the Tshwane Open.
The South African turned in 29 and opened up a six-shot lead at one point on Sunday before the nerves appeared to kick in, and he came home in level par to finish the week at 18 under.
That jittery finish allowed Spaniard Jorge Campillo and Finn Mikko Korhonen to get within three shots, but it was a comfortable win in the end for Burmester.
He entered the week without playing privileges on the European Tour after finishing 140th on last season’s Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, but Sunday’s win represented a continuation of some excellent early season form.
A top-10 finish at the BMW SA Open hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni earned him a spot in the field for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship where he went on to claim seventh spot.
A tie for 11th at the previous week’s Joburg Open left the 27-year-old feeling confident that a first European Tour win – to add to his six Sunshine Tour triumphs – was not far away, and he duly delivered at Pretoria Country Club.
The victory could take him into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking and means that South Africans have won this event in four of its five stagings.
‘I can’t believe it,’ he said. ‘I’ve had an amazing summer and last week was a frustrating day for me on Sunday and it didn’t go my way but then my family and everyone who supported me said “we’re coming up next week so you better win in front of us” and I’m glad to have done that.
‘I sharpened my teeth as a youngster on the Big Easy Tour here at home and I think I had five seconds in one year and then two years later I had four wins on the Sunshine Tour.
‘It’s gone strength to strength and now I’m a European Tour winner and that sounds great.’
Credit: European Tour
