Dean Burmester finished LIV Golf Adelaide strongly with a seven-under-par 65 on Sunday to end up in a share of sixth place at the Grange Golf Club.
He started his final round on the fourth hole, and quickly had three birdies in the bank on the fifth, sixth and seventh. There was another on the 10th, and he eagled the 13th. He made a bogey on the 14th, but got on the birdie train again with gains on the 15th, 17th and 18th.
Unfortunately, he pushed his tee-shot wide right on the first, and he was unable to get things back on track on that hole. The resultant double-bogey cost him dear, when just a par would have given him third place on his own when taken in conjunction with his closing birdie on the third.
In the end, his strong finish was eclipsed by the story of Anthony Kim capping an improbable comeback with a victory many thought would be impossible.
Kim completed one of the most inspirational comebacks that professional golf has ever seen, outduelling Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau to win the individual title. He fired a nine-under 63 to finish at 23-under while overcoming a five-shot deficit to Rahm and DeChambeau.
DeChambeau suffered two early bogeys, while Rahm was holding on with pars, but it was Kim who eventually got the hot hand. He rattled off birdies on four, five, seven and nine, shrinking the deficit to just one as the trio of stars made the turn. Rahm made the turn at even par for the day, while DeChambeau limped to a four-over front nine.
After both Kim and Rahm made pars on 10 and 11, the 40-year-old Kim stepped up to the tee at The Watering Hole – the par-three 12th at The Grange – where the crowd was waiting to erupt. He delivered a solid tee shot to just inside 17 feet, giving himself a good look at birdie amid the chaos of cheers and passionate golf fans.
Sensing the moment, he rolled the putt dead center into the cup, tying Rahm for the lead. The crowd absolutely roared, and Kim unleashed a massive fist pump, one loaded with years of pent-up emotion, frustration, and fire. More fist pumps would follow as Kim made birdies on holes 13, 14, 15 and 17 to seize control of the tournament.
“I’m too old to be reacting like that because I think I pulled something in my hip,” Kim joked. “But I will say that that was all the lows that I went through in my life that I got to dig out of. Every putt that went in, I felt the struggle, and I was overcoming it. It was therapeutic out there to fight through it and come out on top.”
DeChambeau couldn’t recover from his shaky front nine and stumbled to a 2-over 74, fading out of contention entirely. Rahm simply could not match Kim’s magic, eventually claiming solo second for the second consecutive week.
“In a weird way, as a competitor, I probably shouldn’t say this, but that was a joy to watch,” Rahm said of Kim. “To see that image on 18 of him hugging his wife and daughter, any man with a soul is going to have a soft spot for that. I was almost tearing up.”
Branden Grace closed with a second three-under 69 in a row to finish on 15-under for the tournament and a share of eighth.
