Dean Burmester raced to the low round of the day on Sunday as he fell just one short of chasing down eventual winner Sergio Garcia in the LIV Golf Hong Kong event at Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling.
Burmester started his round in the shotgun start format of LIV Golf with an eagle on the third hole and then he made six birdies on his way to an eight-under 62. And, in the true idiot-fashion of the shotgun format, Garcia started his round on the first hole, and, while Burmester was holing out for birdie on two, the Spaniard parred the 18th for a 63 and a one-stroke win.
Burmester tried hard to chase down Garcia, but the former Masters champion was flawless in the final round. Even so, Burmester was pleased to shoot the day’s lowest round for his best result since winning LIV Golf Miami last year.
“That was a good round of golf. Really solid,” Burmester said. “I didn’t leave much out there. A couple putts I left in the throat that maybe could have gone in. Sergio played a hell of a weekend there. I’m just glad I was up there. It was good to get those feelings again. I just kind of had that feeling all week that I was going to be close.”
Garcia, who finished third in the season-long Individual Championship race last season, moved atop the points standings after the first three events in 2025.
All three of the other South Africans, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel, finished in a share of 20th on seven-under-par after carding matching three-under-par 67s.
In the new format for the team competition this season, all four scores count through the three rounds, and Stinger GC finished the event in second place on 36-under, one behind Garcia’s team, Fireballs GC.
