“I went from a 34-week schedule to 14” - Dean Burmester reveals reason behind his move from PGA Tour to LIV Golf

Dean Burmester confirmed his move to LIV Golf in February 2023. The South African joined his fellow countryman Louis Oosthuizen in the Stinger GC team. The move shocked some at the time as it came just months after the golfer got a PGA Tour card. Now, a year on from the move, the 34-year-old has disclosed that the PGA and DP World Tour’s stacked schedule is the reason behind his defection to the breakaway tour.

Burmester was speaking on the latest episode of LIV Golf’s Fairway to Heaven podcast when he opened up on his move to the Saudi-backed series. Revealing the reason behind his jump, the Zimbabwe-born golfer said that he went from playing a “34-week schedule to 14 or 18.”

According to Burmester, he was looking “at 32 to 36 weeks last year” with majors, DP World Tour season, Korn Ferry Tour finals, and PGA Tour as well. He claimed that LIV’s less-stacked schedule allowed him to have more time with his family. Burmester explained that he was new to the PGA Tour and LIV Golf looked exciting. He was ready to jump ships when he got the call from Oosthuizen.

Sharing the reason behind his move to LIV Golf, Dean Burmester said on the Fairway to Heaven podcast:

“I was brand new to the PGA Tour and LIV was new and exciting. And I'd obviously watched it and I watched Stinger GC’s success… It was the Friday or the Saturday evening of the AMEX (American Express 2023). I was sitting with my wife and we were just chatting. And she's like basically broke down in tears and she was like, that's the best time because I was home for so long and I was able to spend lots of time with our son Jordan and now we had Alex, our youngest.

And when that moment happened, it was instant. Because I went from a 34-week schedule to a 14-to-18-week schedule. So, I mean it was pretty much an easy decision from there to see what it does to the rest of my family. It's great for me chasing my dreams but to make them travel all over the world and jump from hotel to hotel as well is not exactly great. So, to give them that stability was super cool."

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Dean Burmester secures a spot in The Open Championship 2024

Burmester recently made news as he won back-to-back European Tour events. He lifted the Joburg Open trophy in November and followed it up with the South Africa Open in December. Interestingly, the golfer’s victory at the Joburg Open earned him a spot in the Open Championship 2024.

The South African golfer carded a bogey-free 64 on the final day at the Houghton Golf Club in Johannesburg. He beat Darren Fichardt by three strokes to win the Joburg Open. The LIV golfer, whose rankings plummeted to 154th since his move to the breakaway tour, qualified for the Open. With this, the golfer joined the elite list of ranked golfers from LIV to play in the majors.

For the unversed, the 152nd Open is planned from 18-21 July 2024, at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland.