DEAN BURMESTER OVERCOMES BUMPY START, WINS LIV GOLF CHICAGO IN PLAYOFF
South Africa’s Dean Burmester sank a 6-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to beat Jon Rahm and Josele Ballester and capture LIV Golf Chicago on Sunday at Bolingbrook Golf Club.
Burmester’s second victory on the LIV Tour didn’t come easily, as he had a bumpy beginning with bogeys on the first three holes to blow his two-shot lead entering the final round. He recovered three strokes with birdies at the par-4 fifth hole, the par-5 12th and the par-4 16th and made par on the other holes.
“Yeah, obviously had the dream start, didn’t I, 3-over through 3,” Burmester quipped. “I’m not going to lie, I tend to get down on myself, and in that moment, I thought, I’ve got a lot more to fight for than just the golf tournament. For me, it was about hanging around. I made a great up-and-down on 4 and then a great birdie on 5 and that was kind of me going again. I had loads of chances that I didn’t make. Left a lot of putts short.”
His round of even-par 71 got him to 9-under 204 and in the playoff, where Spaniards Rahm and Ballester also advanced after they played together in the final group.
Burmester had missed a 23-foot birdie putt on the final regulation hole, while Rahm and Ballester each sank birdies to join him at 9 under.
Rahm had an adventurous third round with three bogeys on the front nine — at Nos. 2, 3 and 8, which he countered with birdies at Nos. 5, 7, 12, 15 and 18 to post 69.
Ballester also carded 69, with birdies at Nos. 10, 12, 14 and 18 and blemishes with bogeys at Nos. 3 and 15. Ballester, 21, was making just his seventh professional start.
However, each missed birdie putts from about 12 feet on the first playoff hole, and Burmester did not miss.
“Read it right to left and it went right to left and then went right and lipped in,” Burmester said of the winning putt. “I was halfway through a fist pump and then had to pause and have a second go at it.”
Stinger GC won the team competition on the first hole of a playoff with Torque GC after each finished 17 under in regulation.
Burmester’s 71 was combined with scores from Branden Grace (67), team captain Louis Oosthuizen (67) and Charl Schwartzel (72). They were 7 under for the third round, while Torque went 12 under to force a playoff.
Grace and Schwartzel each birdied the 18th in the playoff.
“The moment after the emotion of trying to win a golf tournament, there’s nothing sweeter than that,” Burmester said. “Then to have these two boys do it right behind me, all three of us birdie the playoff hole, is special.”
Team captain Joaquin Niemann (67), Sebastian Munoz (68), Carlos Ortiz (68) and Mito Pereira (69) scored for Torque in regulation.
The two playoffs on Sunday was just the second time that’s happened on the LIV Tour. For the Stingers, who had gone 31 straight regular-season tournaments without a win going back to Tulsa in 2023, it replicated their success at the tour’s first event in London in 2022, when Schwartz captured the individual title and the Stingers claimed team honors.
“The boys played well the whole week,” Oosthuizen added. “For (Burmester) to get that win, and then for Charl and Branden to hit those two shots into 18 was very special, and it was very relieving for me to watch.”
Niemann, who tied for 17th, remains the leader in the individual points standings.
STEVE ALLAN MAKES BOEING CLASSIC HIS THIRD TOUR VICTORY THIS YEAR
Australian Steve Allan birdied the final hole to forge a one-stroke victory over Stewart Cink on Sunday at the Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie, Wash.
Allan won for the third time this season and second time in last three starts on tour, shooting a bogey-free 7-under-par 65 to finish 15 under for the three-day tournament at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge.
He said he was “a little” surprised by three victories in 2025, following up wins at The Galleri Classics in March and the Dick’s Open in July with Sunday’s triumph.
“I think I would have probably laughed if you told me I would have won three times,” said Allan, 51, who joined the PGA Tour Champions in 2024 and was playing in his 39th event. “I definitely thought that I had a win in me, but I wouldn’t have said three.”
His 5-foot birdie putt at the par-5 No. 18 was the difference, as Cink, who started the round with a three-stroke lead, found a bunker at 18 and settled for par at the final hole. Cink finished the day with a 2-under 70 and alone in second place at 14-under 202.
“It’s weird, not something I’ve ever done before,” Allan said of watching Cink play the last hole with the title on the line. “I think it’s really odd because you don’t want to wish ill on someone but, obviously, you want to win the tournament. He’s a great player so I fully expected him to make a birdie.
“But you know what, at the end of the day if he got up here and made eagle and beat me, so be it,” Allan continued. “I played well and had a great week.”
Allan carded birdies at Nos. 1, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16 and 18. Cink lost ground with bogeys at Nos. 6, 10 and 11 against birdies at Nos. 4, 8, 12, 15 and 16.
“Well, I’m disappointed,” Cink said. “I mean, I played well enough to win this, just made a couple mistakes and kind of put myself a little bit in a hole today. And I clawed back out, which I was really proud of.
“I’m in the middle of the fairway on 18 and we — first of all, we got the situation wrong. We at the time thought that we were tied. It didn’t really affect the shot plan, but then the wind changed on me in my shot. If I had waited about 30 seconds to hit the shot, we would have played it differently. It didn’t quite go far enough. I hit a little too far right.”
Ernie Els of South Africa (6-under 66 on Sunday) and Darren Clarke (66) of Northern Ireland tied for third at 13 under.
Two-time defending champion Stephen Ames of Canada carded 69 to tie for 14th at 7 under.
JUSTIN ROSE OUTDUELS J.J. SPAUN IN PLAYOFF TO WIN AT ST. JUDE
MEMPHIS – England’s Justin Rose birdied four of the last five holes of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind to force a playoff and birdied the third playoff hole to capture the first leg of the PGA Tour’s season-ending, three-tournament playoffs.
Rose’s magical finish in regulation – birdies at 14, 15, 16 and 17 — allowed the 45-year-old veteran to pass 54-hole leader Tommy Fleetwood and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and join J.J. Spaun, the reigning U.S. Open champion, in the playoff.
Spaun birdied two of his final three holes in regulation to join Rose in the playoff. Rose and Spaun both had birdie putts on the first playoff hole lip out forcing a return trip to No. 18. On their second tries, they converted birdie putts with Spaun’s coming from 30 feet.
The hole location on 18 was changed for the third playoff hole and Rose dropped his birdie putt from 12 feet. Spaun’s seven-foot attempt for birdie slid left of the cup.
“That was an amazing last 90 minutes,” Rose said. “I never stopped believing.”
The top 50 in the FedEx Cup points standings advance to the second round of the playoffs, the BMW Championship, which will be held at Caves Valley Golf Club at Owings Mills, Maryland beginning Thursday.
Rose began his charge shortly after a bogey at the par-4 12th hole to move up the leaderboard.
Rose didn’t play any practice rounds before the start of the St. Jude and he skipped the Wednesday pro-am because of illness, but the absences didn’t affect his play.
Rose had a chance to win on the 72nd hole, but his 13-foot birdie putt slid past the hole forcing the playoff with the 34-year-old Spaun. He had the exact same putt on the first playoff hole.
Fleetwood once again was denied the opportunity to win for the first time in 15 years on the PGA Tour. Entering the final round with a one-stroke lead, he was unable to hold a two-stroke lead with three holes to play. He had a par-bogey-par finish.
“I’m obviously disappointed,” Fleetwood said. “I was next to somebody (Rose) who played unbelievable golf down the stretch.”
