JOHANNESBURG — Dean Burmester was wondering what many South Africans have been wondering at some point this week. He was down by the first green, talking to Jon Rahm, staring back up the hill at the stage they had just left.
“A little taste of the Ryder Cup,” he said to Rahm. “That almost makes me feel good. It’s very special.”
The point wasn’t the comparison, or the fact that Rahm added some context about the size of the crowd. Burmester didn’t even know the TV microphone was recording the convo. The point was that Burmester was daydreaming. Mental stress. He will never play in the Ryder Cup and he knows it. At this rate, he won’t even play in the President’s Cup. But was LIV Golf’s visit to its home country the same as the Ryder Cup for the home team? Yes, it was a bit like that.
Burmester was equal parts mascot and player this week, honking several times as he pounded his chest, dancing to the cheering crowd and tossing off the tee boxes, his arms outstretched like Maximus Meridius in “Gladiator.”
It was a full week of that since the 36-year-old tour, mainly because LIV’s template for big international events worked again, as it did in Australia a few years ago. Over 100,000 tickets were sold, here in the big city of Johannesburg, and they had one group of patriots to cheer for.
“I’m bitter about taking my hat off every time,” Burmester said shortly after it was over. “It’s just something – I wanted to do well for the fans and I’m honored to show my gratitude wherever I go. It’s amazing to have that kind of support, and they’re shouting down the streets and in the woods and stuff like that, and I wanted to say thank you. That’s what I wanted to do. If they don’t make noise, the better.”
And they make noise.
Does South Africa party harder than Australia? LIV Golf wanted to test that idea. Its events mimic festivals more than anything else these days. At least those can confirm attendance records. The template is clear: bring the crowd for golf, music or sunshine and beer – whichever they want the most – stream, pump the Beastie Boys and sic ’em in the quiet game routines. It will feel different. It will cost a ton of money. It will stand out if the golf is good, too. Was this the first time Burmester had thousands of fans marching with his team? It’s possible! And maybe not. Been around the block. But we know how he felt about this.
“The biggest week of my life,” he said. And that was after his team settled for second place. Teammate Branden Grace missed a birdie putt that would have pushed the Southern Guards into the playoffs. Given the course of the rain and the nature of the wet crowd, it’s probably better that it didn’t happen.
Minister for Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, spent the morning stoking the fire, shouting to the cameras how his team would win on Sunday, and they were living up to it early on. What was once a nine-stroke lead slowly disappeared in the round and finally crumbled when the South African boys added one birdie over their final 16 holes. Louis Oosthuizen finished with a bogey on the par-5. The South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, was there to thank them for their work, but in the end he did a funny televised song with Bryson DeChambeau, who ended their team’s dreams legally, then defeated Jon Rahm in the tournament.
When asked how Sunday night will go for the South African LIV players who were promised a big party in the country if they win, Louis Oosthuizen said he is going to bed. They were all there you are tired. There is a difference between winning and losing.
“I’m ready for a brandy and Coke,” Burmester said, during what was supposed to be his 30th interview of the week. An impromptu press conference was held in the first box, with the people of the country surrounding them from the top for the last time.
“Each of us had to play our first round here, and we each left saying the same thing: we couldn’t hear anything. It was the greatest thing I’ve ever felt on a golf course. I’m proud to be South African; that’s all.”
