Burmester relishes being in contention entering the weekend at Royal Troon

TROON, Scotland – Dean Burmester has never been closer to the top of a major leaderboard than he is through 36 holes of this week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon. But just as he’s trying to avoid beating himself up when things don’t go his way, he’s also tempering any giddiness about a potential date with the Claret Jug on Sunday.

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“At the end of the day, it’s just a score, right? It’s just 18 holes of golf,” said the 35-year-old Stinger GC star.

The first 36 holes at Troon have been highly productive for the South African. He followed his opening even-par 71 with a 2-under 69, leaving him inside the top 5 at the mid-afternoon point of Friday’s second round, five strokes behind leader Shane Lowry.

Burmester’s best placing in his eight previous major starts came two months ago at the PGA Championship at Valhalla. He was tied for eighth after the first two rounds and solo ninth through 54 holes. He finished tied for 12th, his best major result but a bit of a disappointment after entering the final round with high hopes.

It was a good lesson on how to handle the pressure of chasing major glory. It was also a good lesson on the need to focus on the process instead of the position.

Asked what he learned the week at Valhalla that he’ll take into the weekend at Royal Troon, Burmester replied: “Just that I'm human, that I don't have to be perfect to win golf tournaments. I think that's probably the No. 1 thing. Like I said, you ride your luck, there will be good, there will be bad, and at the end of the day you've just got to stay true to yourself, and whatever happens at the end happens.”

Whatever happens is certainly an apt way to deal with the vagaries and challenges created by Open Championship weather on links-style courses.

In Thursday’s first round, Burmester’s first seven holes were, in his words, “brutal.” Rainy and cold. Consequently, he bogeyed four consecutive holes but fought back to finish at even par. He then went to the range to work on his swing, feeling that issues with his right side were preventing him from controlling the club face.

“I was hitting it everywhere yesterday,” he said. “It was probably a very scrappy level par.”

Friday’s opening stretch was in more palatable weather and Burmester took advantage. Bouncing back from an opening bogey, he birdied three of his next seven holes and was 2 under at the turn.

At the par-4 13th, he blocked his tee shot into the native area right and thought he had lost the ball, opting to hit a provisional. But as it turned out, his initial tee ball hit his coach and found a patch of turf that gave him a swing. He hit his approach to 18 feet and two-putted for par.

“Links golf, anything can happen,” Burmester said. “You've got to ride your luck. I had more of that today. On some holes I got lucky a couple times. Look, I'm enjoying it, and it was obviously a super special round of golf for me.”

Things could be super special on Sunday, of course.

Burmester already has raised three trophies in the last eight months – two in South Africa late last year during the early portion of the DP World Tour schedule, and then in April with his first LIV Golf win in Miami when he beat Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia in a playoff. Clearly, he’s in terrific form.

“I like the way I'm hitting certain golf shots,” he said. “There's some things obviously I could do better. But take it one day at a time and see what happens, see what tomorrow holds.

“I'm just going to enjoy it. I'm going to relish where I am. I'm going to enjoy being part of this amazing event. It's just super cool.”

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