PGA Championship: Burmester ready to make Major charge?

Five South African golfers will lead the country’s challenge at the year’s second Major tournament, the PGA Championship, at Valhalla Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky, starting on Thursday.

And, as has been the case for a good number of Majors now, South African golfing fans will be cheering on the five locals in the field, desperate to see another big-time winner, the last being Ernie Els at the Open in 2012.

Before him, Charl Schwartzel (Masters, 2011) and Louis Oosthuizen (Open, 2010) were the last South Africans to bag Major titles.

Dean Burmester

Leading the push this week will be Dean Burmester, the 32-year-old who now plays professionally on the LIV Golf Tour, and PGA Tour regulars Erik van Rooyen and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, DP World Tour regular Thriston Lawrence and Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner from the 2023/24 season, Ryan van Velzen, who’ll be on Major debut in Kentucky.

Burmester’s last tournament on the PGA Tour before joining LIV was the 2023 PGA Championship, where he finished 54th. Oak Hill, home of last year’s tournament, was a beast though compared to Valhalla this week, so if Burmester, who’s a long-hitter and hits greens with regularity, gets it going he’ll be confident of being among the contenders.

He’ll also go into the tournament on the back of a recent debut win on the LIV Golf Tour where he bagged R75-million for coming out on top at the Miami tournament in early April. Also, at the end of last year Burmester won the Joburg Open and SA Open, so he’s a player who appears ready to make a Major breakthrough.

Van Rooyen and Co

Van Rooyen is also a player to keep an eye on this week. The former University of Minnesota student won on the PGA Tour earlier this season, claiming the Worldwide Technology Championship in November to go with the Barracuda Championship he won in 2021, and he also threatened the leaders at one stage at the Masters at Augusta last month.

Bezuidenhout, also a former SA Open champion, has enjoyed his time on the PGA Tour this season and is now a Major regular, having enjoyed best finishes of tied-38th at the Masters (2020), tied-30th at the PGA (2021), tied-31st at US Open (2021) and tied-49th at the Open (2023).

He’s also had two runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour, at the John Deere Classic in 2022 and at The American Express earlier this year.

Lawrence is also a former SA Open champion and a four-time winner on the DP World Tour and he’ll hope for a good showing this week, as will rookie Van Velzen, the 22-year-old, who’ll be on Major debut after performing so well on last season’s Sunshine Tour.

Will one of these men challenge the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Co? Let’s hope so.