LIV Golf Miami: Day Three
56 holes later, Burmester earns first LIV victory: After many close calls, 54 regulation, and two playoff holes later, Dean Burmester wins his first LIV Golf tournament. Going bogey-free over his first 17 holes of the day, Brumester took advantage of a bogey by Sergio Garcia to tie him for the lead with birdies on 13 and 16. That was until the final hole of the day which Burmester hit into the trees which led to a bogey and gave Garcia the lead. Entering the final hole, Garcia sat at -12 with a one-shot lead but missed a short putt on the 18th to drop to -11 with Burmester. Both men shot par on their first playoff holes and on the second hole, Garcia hit one into the water which led to a bogey. Burmester was able to take advantage again and shot par on the hole to win his first victory with LIV. Burmester is not in the field next weekend at the Masters, but certainly looked the part defeating 13 Masters champions that were in the field in Miami, including Garcia who won the Masters in 2017. Burmester has played all of the majors except the Masters and has shown that he can compete after finishing 11th at the 2022 Open Championship. Today’s victory moves Burmester into third in the overall season standings and earns his third top 10. Garcia shot a 70 on the final day and now sits in 4th in the season standings, getting his second runner-up finish. Matthew Wolff rounds out the podium, shooting a 69 on the final day to end the weekend. Wolff’s final round included four birdies and an eagle. Wolff now moves up to 11th on the season with his second top-5 finish.
Rest of the Top 10: In a tie for 4th at -8 are Marc Leishman, Jon Rahm, and Tyrrell Hatton. Leishman shot back-to-back 69s to end the tournament in 4th, carding four birdies, including one on his final hole of the day. This is Leishman’s best result of the season by 17 spots. Jon Rahm has yet another gritty performance, shooting a crucial birdie on his 18th hole of the day after bogeying his 17th. Heading into Augusta next week to defend his Green Jacket, this now marks his fifth straight top 10 to begin his LIV Golf career. Hatton started strong on Sunday, shooting four birdies over his first nine holes but suffered three bogeys over the next nine. Today’s 4th marks the best results of Hatton’s short LIV career though. In a tie for 7th at -7 are Bryson DeChambeau and Louis Oosthuizen. DeChambeau shot a 68 today to improve four strokes from yesterday, shooting an eagle and three birdies, including one on his 18th hole of the day. DeChambeau is now 7th on the season with his fourth straight top 10. Oosthuizen shot a 71 with eight birdies for his third top-10 of the season, sitting 9th in the overall. Rounding out the top 10 at -6 are Abraham Ancer, Thomas Pieters, Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Reed, and Talor Gooch. Following up on his victory in Hong Kong, Ancer shot a 68 on the final day with six birdies. Ancer sits fifth overall on the season. Pieters shoots a 69 on the final day to get his first top 10 of the season and best result by 21 spots. The Belgian shot a bogey on his third hole of the day but shot four birdies and no bogeys over the next 15 holes, including one on the 18th to solidify his spot in the top 10. Niemann shot a 70 on the final day with four birdies and an eagle for his fourth top-10 of the season. Niemann heads to Augusta with the lead in the overall by over 30 points. Reed gets his best result of the season by 8 spots, shooting three birdies on Sunday. Gooch leaves Miami with a 9th-place finish and third top 10 of the season. Gooch shot four birdies on the final day, opening with two, and sits at 10th overall.
Legion XIII picks up second victory in its fifth event: Legion XIII has played five events with LIV Golf but now picks up its second victory. Led by Rahm and Hatton, the birdie of Rahm on the 18th proved crucial for avoiding what would’ve been the first team playoff in LIV Golf history. Kieran Vincent shot a bogey on his final hole of the day and had Rahm not made the birdie or Vincent missed, Legion XIII would’ve gone to a playoff with the runner-up RangeGoats. Caleb Surratt shot a 70 on the final day with four birdies to finish tied for 18th. Vincent finished 24th overall on the weekend, marking his best result in his short LIV career. The RangeGoats finished second at -21 while Stinger GC rounded out the podium at -15 in third.
Up Next: LIV goes back to Adelaide from April 26th to 28th. Played at Grange Golf Club, Talor Gooch was the victor there last year which earned him his first LIV Golf win. Gooch will return there not only to defend his title but look for his first win of the season. 2023 was an exciting event and 2024 looks to be the same. 13 LIV players will be featured at the Masters next weekend. The list includes past champions Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, and Bubba Watson. Others include Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Adrian Meronk, Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Smith, and Tyrrell Hatton.
