Last Look LIV Golf Chicago: Notes, stats, superlatives and more 

BOLINGBROOK, Ill.– In a thrilling finish at LIV Golf Chicago, Dean Burmester of Stinger GC secured his second career LIV Golf victory in a three-man playoff. Despite a challenging start with three consecutive bogeys, the 36-year-old South African battled back, carding an even-par 71 in the final round at Bolingbrook Golf Club to edge out Legion XIII Captain, Jon Rahm, and Fireballs GC rookie, Josele Ballester.

RELATED: Leaderboard | Rd. 3 recap | Video highlights

Not only did Dean Burmester win the individual title in a playoff, but his team, Stinger GC emerged victorious in a playoff as well. With Burmester ineligible for the team playoff due to his individual playoff participation, Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel stepped up for Stinger GC, facing Torque GC's Joaquin Niemann and Carlos Ortiz. Niemann posted a par and Ortiz a birdie, but Grace and Schwartzel both delivered clutch birdies, securing the team victory for Stinger GC.

Here is a last look at some of the notable performances from LIV Golf Chicago:

Round of the Week

In Rd. 2, Dean Burmester made a massive move to the top of the leaderboard, shooting a 6-under 65, which was tied with Carlos Ortiz for the round of the day. The stellar round gave Burmester a two-shot lead, which afforded him the breathing room to get off to a slow start on Sunday, when he bogeyed his first three holes of the day.

Clutch Performance

Torque GC’s Mito Pereira was in a dangerous position entering the week and sat in 53rd in the individual standings. With his back against the wall, Pereira competed until the final hole, making a strong push to earn points.

Pereira made birdie in four of his final five holes to climb to T13 for the week. The performance was Pereira’s best finish of the season and moved him up four spots in the season standings to 49th. Although he still has work to do to avoid relegation, the Chilean now has a much better chance to climb into the open zone next week in Indianapolis.

Under the Radar Performers

Chieh-Po Lee: Lee finished T13 to make a strong move out of the dreaded drop zone. The LIV Golf wildcard shot rounds of 74-67-69 to earn 4.50 points and vault himself to 45th in the season long standings. The strong tournamen has Lee out of the drop zone and into the open zone heading into the season’s individual finale.

Anthony Kim: After shooting an 82 on Friday’s opening round and experiencing neck spasms, Anthony Kim bounced back to fire back-to-back rounds of 68-66. The Sunday 66 was one shot shy of Harold Varner III’s low round of the day. Although Kim’s performance didn’t get him points for the week, the LIV Golf wildcard displayed tremendous resilience. After the round, Kim reflected on the weekend. “I didn’t do anything special and left three or four shots out there, but I'm definitely feeling better about my game as long as I’m healthy. It will come together soon. Maybe next week.”

Thomas Pieters: Thomas Pieters had lofty goals entering the week. The former Fighting Illini believed he was playing well enough to contend for a win at Bolingbrook, but he’d have to settle for a 20th place finish. Although the 20th wasn’t his best finish of the season, it may have come at the most opportune time. The 11.50 points that Pieters earned, moved him into the coveted lock zone, and should give him enough points to stay there through the end of the season. Pieters shot a final round 67 after shooting 72-69 in rounds one and two.

Statistical Standouts

Josele Ballester: 1st in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (+1.87 per round). The driving display from Ballester at Bolingbrook was nothing short of remarkable. The 21-year-old led the field for the week in ball speed (196 MPH), edging out long-ball hitters such as Bryson DeChambeau and the winner, Dean Burmester. After his second round, Ballester spoke about his driving being a weapon.

Dean Burmester: 1st in Strokes Gained: Long Approach (+0.77 per round). Burmester was able use his strong long iron game to give himself plenty of birdie opportunities throughout the week. The South African had lost strokes on approach in four consecutive events leading into the week. Clearly, the improvement in his approach shots made all the difference this week.

Harold Varner III: 1st in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week (+2.42 per round). After losing strokes putting a nine (!) consecutive events, Varner III led the field this week in the category. The change of fortune of the greens came at the perfect time for the 4Aces GC standout, whose performance moved him from the drop zone to the lock zone.

Veteran Resurgence

Branden Grace: Just six weeks ago, Stinger GC’s Branden Grace was worried about finishing in the drop zone for the second consecutive year. Now, Grace has finished in the top 5 in two of his past three starts and is celebrating a Stinger GC team victory. The Grace revival has come in clutch for Stinger, and the team has a great deal of momentum heading into the Team Championship in two weeks.

Young Gun Spotlight

Josele Ballester: Josele Ballester put the golf world on notice with his astounding performance at Bolingbrook. Just one start after his first ever top 10 (T7 at LIV Golf UK by JCB) as a professional, Ballester found himself in a playoff alongside LIV Golf stars Jon Rahm and Dean Burmester. Not only did Ballester not back down as a 21-year-old, he rose to the occasion. Needing a birdie on the 18th hole to force a playoff, the former U.S. Amateur champion stuck his approach shot to a few feet before tapping in the putt. After a perfect tee shot on the playoff hole, Ballester overspun a wedge into the green and failed to convert a birdie, but gave it a great run. After the round, Ballester expressed confidence in his trajectory.

"I had a good opportunity the last few holes to maybe close it, but I couldn't do it, and yeah, I'll learn from it. When you lose in a playoff to a birdie, there's not much you can do. I think I hit a great second shot. I executed a great putt. It could have gone in. Hopefully next time it does."

Ballester would have loved to come away with the victory, but it’s clear that this is just the beginning of what could be the career of a superstar.

Biggest Movers

Here are the players who’ve made the biggest move in the season long individual points race:

Josele Ballester: 9 spots from 42nd to 33rd.

Harold Varner III: 8 spots from 26th to 18th.

Thomas Pieters: 7 spots from 27th to 20th

Paul Casey: 6 spots from 18th to 12th

Who’s Trending?

Richard Bland: Richard Bland has now finished in the top 20 in three of his past four events. His T10 finish at Bolingbrook also gives him his second LIV Golf top 10 of the season.

Josele Ballester: The rookie has now recorded points in three consecutive starts with finishes of T23, T7 and T2. Look out.

Paul Casey: Paul Casey now has three top 11 finishes in his past four starts. His 5th place finish at Bolingbrook marks his fourth top 10 finish of the season.

Torque GC: Torque GC hasn’t had a team win since 2023 but has now finished runner-up in three consecutive events.

Quotes of the Week

Josele Ballester on the support of his teammates after a tough loss:

“Having your teammates there, just cheering you when you were in the playoff, just to look at them and also appreciate how far my improvement has been is great, and hopefully we can play well in the last two tournaments.”

Branden Grace on the ups and downs of both golf and life:

“Listen, it comes in life, it's not just in sport. I think as an athlete, you just keep believing and keep grinding and keep thinking the big thing is just around the corner. I think in golf, it's making one putt, making one good swing, and you get a feeling, and then you go. But for me, I felt that the last couple of months since Mexico I've felt that I've been swinging better. I've been playing better golf. The guys have always been behind me, but it's nice knowing that -- Charl has mentioned a few times, you can see the ball flight is back and all these sorts of things, and all these things help you believe in yourself more. Then you just keep going, and one good week at the end of this year was amazing.”

Dean Burmester on Josele Ballester:

“That kid Ballester has got some game. That I will tell you. He's got some serious game. He showed some nuts today. I mean, his shot on 17 was no joke, straight at the flag. It looked like it was a two all day. It would have been a one. Unfortunately he missed that putt.”

Dean Burmester on overcoming personal struggles to win a LIV Golf event:

“Honestly, there's been enough going on in my life off the golf course and away from golf. I'm not going to comment further on that. But the stuff that I've had to go through and pull through is a lot more difficult than a lot of golf tournaments that you'll play, but it certainly affected me out there playing golf. These guys know I can get pretty hot-headed, more than most, and it was certainly showing itself towards the middle of the season. I think I had high expectations to do well because I had a good start, and obviously that didn't go into fruition. I kind of just eased off and fell into the background a little bit”