Dean Burmester Wins LIV Golf Chicago in a Playoff as Stinger GC Completes the Sweep

Dean Burmester started Sunday with a two-shot lead and immediately set it on fire. Three straight bogeys, a four-way logjam with three holes to play, a 23-foot putt to win that slid by, and then one swing from the rough that fixed everything.

The Stinger GC veteran birdied the first playoff hole at Bolingbrook Golf Club to beat Jon Rahm and Josele Ballester and win LIV Golf Chicago, his second LIV Golf title. All three finished regulation at 9-under 204, Burmester after an even-par 71 and the two Spaniards after matching 69s. His teammates made it a double, as Stinger GC beat Torque GC in a team playoff to end a 31-tournament drought.

Three Bogeys, No Panic

The lead evaporated early. Burmester made three bogeys in a row in the opening stretch, and the 54-hole cushion was gone before the round had found a rhythm. His own description was family friendly and honest: "After three bogeys in a row to start, I was like, fudge, I don't know where I'm going."

He steadied quickly. A birdie at the fifth put him one ahead of Rahm at the turn, and from there Burmester did not drop another shot. Ballester was the one pressing, with birdies at the 10th and 14th that briefly put the rookie alone in front, while Burmester answered with a birdie at the par-5 12th.

The Final Stretch

The back nine turned into a four-man brawl. Rahm birdied the 15th to get within one, Ballester gave a shot back moments later, and with three holes left Rahm, Ballester, Burmester and Carlos Ortiz were all tied at 8 under. Burmester broke the tie first, rolling in a four-footer for birdie at the 16th.

Ortiz could not find another birdie and finished alone in fourth at 8 under after a 68. The final group could. Ballester buried a four-footer at the 18th and Rahm followed from about five feet, which left Burmester standing over a 23-footer for the title. It missed, and the three of them went back to the 18th tee.

One Hole, One Winner

The playoff did not look like it would go Burmester's way. He found the rough off the tee while Ballester striped his drive, but the 21-year-old overspun his wedge and left himself 12 feet. Rahm was about 10 feet away. Burmester, from the rough, got the bounce he needed and finished six feet from the hole.

Ballester missed. Rahm missed. Burmester did not. "The moment after the emotion of trying to win a golf tournament, there's nothing sweeter than that," he said. The win is worth $4 million and comes after what Burmester described as a rough stretch away from the course this summer. His first LIV title also came in a playoff, over Sergio Garcia in Miami last year.

The Stingers Finally Break Through

The team race delivered its own sudden death. Stinger GC shot 7 under on Sunday, with 67s from Branden Grace and captain Louis Oosthuizen, Burmester's 71 and a 72 from Charl Schwartzel, to finish at 17 under. Torque GC came roaring from five back with the best team round of the day, 12 under, behind Joaquin Niemann's 67, 68s from Sebastián Muñoz and Ortiz, and a 69 from Mito Pereira, who birdied four of his last five holes.

That forced a two-man aggregate playoff on the 18th. With Burmester busy in the individual playoff, Oosthuizen benched himself and sent out Grace and Schwartzel, and the captain later called it an easy decision. Torque countered with Niemann and Ortiz. Ortiz made birdie and Niemann made par, so the South Africans needed two birdies. They got both.

It is the Stingers' first team title since LIV Golf Tulsa in 2023, and only the second double playoff in LIV history. It is also the team's second individual and team sweep, following Schwartzel's win at the inaugural London event in 2022.

The Rest of the Board

4Aces GC and Fireballs GC tied for third at 15 under. 4Aces put up 11 under on Sunday behind Harold Varner III's 65, the low round of the day, which also tied him for fifth individually at 7 under with Grace and Paul Casey. Legion XIII and Crushers GC shared fifth at 7 under. Crushers, the defending team champions here, were undone by a 3-over final round that included a 74 from Bryson DeChambeau and a 75 from Anirban Lahiri.

Pereira's late burst got him to a tie for 13th, his best finish of the season. Ballester leaves with plenty: a runner-up finish in his seventh start as a pro and the week's best strokes gained off the tee number, per LIV Golf.

Indianapolis Decides It

Rahm did not get the win, but the runner-up finish keeps the individual title alive. Niemann tied for 17th and holds 208.43 points to Rahm's 196.16, a gap of 12.27 heading into the Indianapolis finale next week. DeChambeau sits a distant third.

Burmester arrived in Chicago a month removed from the worst result of his LIV career. He leaves with a trophy, a team title and a reminder that a round can fall apart in three holes and still end with a six-footer worth $4 million.

Read the Undrafted Round 1 recap and Round 2 recap, and find full details in the LIV Golf final-round recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: LIV Golf (final-round recap and Last Look), AP via Fox Sports, AFP via Arab News, Business Today, Golf Magic. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: LIV Golf.