Dean Burmester (-11) achieves his first victory in Miami at LIV Golf. The South African has beaten Sergio García (-11) on the second playoff hole. Dramatic finale at Trump National Doral. Sergio’s first victory on the Saudi circuit will have to wait. He had it in his hand, a putt of just two metres on the 18th hole slipped away, which would have meant his return to the winners’ circle 3 years, 6 months, and 3 days later. It was not to be. The third time was not the charm either. It was his third playoff on the Saudi circuit and on as many occasions the victory has slipped away.
The South African Burmester carved out his victory with a spectacular third round coming from behind. He started today three strokes behind Sergio, but an immaculate round over 17 holes propelled him to the lead. Five under par until the final hole. Meanwhile, Sergio was unable to maintain the level of the first two rounds and reached the tee of the 15th hole with an insufficient one under par on the day. At that moment, Sergio reactivated with a great iron on the par 3 and with a putt of four metres he got back into the equation, just one stroke behind the South African. After signing par on the next flag, the moment of truth arrived and on the 17th, Sergio sank a spectacular 13-metre putt with which he tied at -12 with the lead. The momentum was reversed. Burmester also missed the fairway on the 18th and had to play a second shot to position on the fairway. Sergio was back as the favourite. The Stingers player finally made his first mistake of the day and handed in the card with a total of -11. The Spaniard played just behind the South African in the last match of the day and knew that par was enough to win the tournament. That’s when the lights went out for the Fireballs captain.
After a great drive, a decent but insufficient second shot left the ball on the green, but still quite a distance from the flag. What the recovered Scotty Cameron gave him on the 17th, the Scotty Cameron took away on the 18th green. The glory of the penultimate tournament hole was tarnished with a painful three-putt on the last regular hole of the tournament. A putt of just two metres slipped away on the right side. How hard it is to win a golf tournament and it seemed that Sergio was weighed down by those years without winning.
We went to the playoff. The first playoff hole was resolved with matching pars. Sergio had a six-metre birdie putt, not easy, from the collar, which he did not manage to hole. We returned to the 18th tee. Again, great drives from both players, but that’s where Sergio ran out of gas, trying to be aggressive he hit the second shot into the water. He managed to get a good bogey, but Burmester didn’t fail this time. He made par and raised his fists to celebrate a very exciting victory. It is the South African’s third win this season after the two consecutive ones achieved on the DP World Tour.
On the other hand, Jon Rahm (-8) has sealed his fifth top 10 of the season at Trump National Doral in as many tournaments. Jon finished in fourth position after signing a final round of three under par. The Barrika player started from the third hole with four consecutive pars. Jon wanted more and was going to fight for it. Top 10s are good, but someone with Rahm’s competitive hunger is not satisfied with being among the top ten in the tournament. It seems he does it without breaking a sweat, that without displaying his best game Jon doesn’t need more to place among the best, tournament after tournament.
To be honest, when it seems that the Barrika player is getting into the fight for the tournament, then comes the mistake. Today it was, among others, on his 11th hole. Rahm arrived after three birdies in four flags that placed him two strokes behind Sergio. There came his first bogey of the day and he practically returned to the starting square. He creates opportunities, but is not able to finish them. The format, the desire or the change, something is there, but Jon does not manage to find the winning key in the LIV. We insist, even so he has managed to finish fourth in a round in which, for example, he visited the water on his penultimate hole. He fights to the end, there are no holes that do not matter. Everything adds up and, above all, if Augusta appears around the corner.
His performance in the last round has served for the Legion XIII team to have won their second title in just five tournaments. His teammate, Tyrrel Hatton (-8), finished tied with Jon after having flirted with victory for 15 holes of this last round. Louis Oosthuizen was also one of the big names of the day until a painful double bogey on the 17th buried any chance of victory.
David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra (+5) finished the tournament tied in 39th position. The next stop on the Saudi circuit will be in Adelaide from 26 to 28 April, but there is still a lot in between. Among other things, a little tournament that starts this very Thursday. They call it something like the Augusta Masters, does it ring a bell?
