He’s nothing if not consistent, and Dean Burmester fired his third three-under-par 69 on Saturday in the third round of the European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.
Burmester made four birdies and just a single bogey in bis round which lifted him into the top 10 ahead of the final round of the final event of the European Tour’s season. His nine-under-par total put him five strokes off the lead held by Rory McIlroy, who carded a five-under-par 67 as he hit the front. McIlroy leads by one from Englishman Sam Horsfield, who bogeyed the last on his way to a 69.
Burmester, who won the PGA Championship on the Sunshine Tour at St Francis Links two weeks ago, picked up an early birdie on the second, but then he was unable to get anything going as he made nine consecutive pars. He dropped a shot on the 12th when he three-putted from inside 14 feet. But he picked up three birdies in the final five holes, on the 14th, 16th and 18th.
Burmester will be hoping for a bit more from his final round, as he is currently projected to drop two places on the Race to Dubai rankings to 21st – a top-20 finish on that list will be a good return on a good season, and a boost for the start of the DP World Tour which takes the place of the European Tour next week when the Joburg Open tees off.
The Race to Dubai leader, Open champion Collin Morikawa fired a three-under 69 to move to 11-under and a share of fifth with, amongst others, his predecessor as Open champion, Shane Lowry. Morikawa is projected to stay at the top of the list in his current position and become the first American to top the European Tour rankings.
Behind Burmester, Christiaan Bezuidenhout carded a two-under 70 to turn his personal momentum around and move to four-under for the tournament. He’s in a share of 31st. Garrick Higgo was one shot back on three-under after a third-round 71 and Justin Harding was on two-under after also carding a 71.
