SUNDAY MARCH 5, 2017 - TSHWANE OPEN
DEAN BURMESTER
• His first European Tour International Schedule victory in his 40th European Tour event.
• Moves to 364,114 points in the Race to Dubai.
• Could move to into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 144th.
• This victory beats his previous best European Tour finish of tied third in the 2015 Tshwane Open.
• This victory beats his previous best 2017 European Tour performance of fourth in the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni.
• Becomes the third first-time winner of the 2017 season. They are: Harold Varner III (Australian PGA Championship), Sam Brazel (UBS Hong Kong Open) and Dean Burmester (Tshawne Open).
• Victory comes in his fifth appearance in the Tshawne Open. (Has played in every edition of the event since it began in 2013).
• His third consecutive top four finish in the Tshwane Open. Was tied third in 2015, tied fourth in 2016 and now first in 2017.
• Continues with his fine start to the 2017 season. Was fourth in the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni, seventh in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, tied 11th in the Joburg Open and now first in the Tshawane Open.
• This victory is his sixth career top ten finish on the European Tour, five of them being in co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour.
• Has now won €313,159 in his last three appearances in the Tshawne Open.
• Narrowly failed to gain a card at the 2016 European Tour Qualifying Final Stage, having finished 140th in the 2016 Race to Dubai. As a result of winning is now exempt until the end of the 2018 season.
• The first debut South African winner on the European Tour since Haydn Porteous at the 2016 Joburg Open.
OTHER FACTS
• The third consecutive South African to win the Tshwane Open, following George Coetzee (2015) and Charl Schwartzel (2016).
• The fourth victory in the event’s five year history for South Africa. They are: Dawie van der Walt (2013), George Coetzee (2015), Charl Schwartzel (2016) and Dean Burmester (2017).
• The first European Tour event that South Africa have won three years in a row since Branden Grace (2015), Charl Schwartzel (2016) and Brandon Stone (2017), won the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
• Becomes the 21st different South African to win a European Tour event co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour.
• Began the final day one shot behind the 54 hole leaders. Becomes the fourth winner this season to make up a final round deficit.
• Made Tshwane Open history by being the first player to win the event who did not lead going into the final round.
• His 72 hole total of 266 matches the lowest 72 hole winning total this season established by Brandon Stone (Alfred Dunhill Championship).
• The 140th South African victory in European Tour history.
• Becomes the 37th different South African to win on the European Tour.
• The second consecutive South African victory, following Darren Fichardt at the Joburg Open, seven days ago.
• With Darren Fichardt winning the Joburg Open, the first time South Africa have won back-to-back European Tour titles since Brandon Stone (2016 BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni) and Haydn Porteous (2016 Joburg Open).
• Becomes the third South African victory of the 2017 season. They are: Brandon Stone (Alfred Dunhill Championship), Darren Fichardt (Joburg Open) and Dean Burmester (Tshawne Open).
• This victory sees South Africa become the first country to win three times on the 2017 European Tour Schedule.
• Follows Dawie van der Walt (2013) as players making the Tshwane Open their first European Tour title.
• Gains his largest European Tour prize of €190,054.
