Dean Burmester started his round on the seventh hole on Friday in the first round of the LIV Golf Hong Kong event, and he finished the day in a share of eighth on four-under-par 66 at Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling.
He made bogey on his third hole, the ninth, and he picked up a shot on the 13th with a birdie. But he dropped another shot on the par-four 15th, before he settled down and scored well for the rest of his round. He made four birdies in a row on 16, 17, 18 and one, and picked up one more stroke on the fourth.
That put him three strokes behind the leader, Paul Casey of England. Casey had an eagle and five birdies in his bogey-free effort, and he was two shots clear of six players. Sergio Garcia and Martin Kamer were in that group together with Sebastian Munoz, amongst others.
Burmester shared eighth with five other players, including Henrik Stenson and Bryson DeChambeau.
Charl Schwartzel opened with a one-under-par for a share of 29th, while Branden Grace was one stroke back in a share of 38th. Louis Oosthuizen opened with a one-over-par 71 and was in a share of 43rd.
In the team contest, the all-South African Stinger GC was down in ninth place on four-under. That was eight shots behind DeChambeau’s Crusher GC, which includes Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri. Also on 12-under was Torque GC.
