Burmester takes his first European title as Jamieson fades on final day

SOUTH Africa’s Dean Burmester stormed to his first European Tour title in the Tshwane Open as overnight joint leader Scott Jamieson suffered a nightmare final day.

Burmester carded a second consecutive 65 at Pretoria Country Club to finish 18 under par, three clear of both Finland’s Mikko Korhonen and Spain’s Jorge Campillo.

The 27-year-old began the final round a shot behind Jamieson and Sweden’s Alexander Bjork, but surged to the top of the leaderboard with birdies on the first three holes and added three more on the front nine to reach the turn in 29.

Further birdies on the 10th, 12th and 14th meant the result was never in doubt and Burmester could afford the luxury of dropping shots on the 16th and 17th before sealing victory with a par on the last. The win will move Burmester back into the world’s top 100 when the rankings are updated today and it also means South African players have won four of the five editions of the Tshwane Open.

“I can’t believe it,” said Burmester, who finished 11th in last week’s Joburg Open after starting the final round one shot off the lead.

“I’ve had an amazing summer and last week was a frustrating day for me on Sunday, but then my family and everyone who supported me said: ‘We’re coming up next week so you better win in front of us’ and I’m glad to have done that.”

In contrast, Jamieson bogeyed three of the first four holes and ran up a double bogey on the eighth on his way to a front nine of 39, 10 worse than Burmester.