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CHICAGO: South Africa’s Dean Burmester sank a six-foot birdie putt on Sunday’s first playoff hole to beat Spaniards Jon Rahm and Josele Ballester and win the LIV Golf Chicago title.
Burmester, who squandered a two-shot overnight lead with three bogeys to start his round, battled back to shoot a par-71 final round to match Rahm and Ballester on nine-under 204 for 54 holes at Bolingbrook Golf Club.
“This has been emotional,” Burmester said. “Since before Virginia (in June) I’ve been going through a bit of a rough time, personal stuff. I’ve just been grinding and trying to get better, thinking about my wife and my kids back home, and I’m just trying to do the best I can for them.”
At the par-four 18th hole in the playoff, Ballester landed 12 feet from the hole but Burmester, who found the rough off the tee, dropped his approach six feet from the hole while 2024 Chicago winner Rahm’s ball was 10 feet away.
Ballester and Rahm missed their birdie putts and Burmester sank his for the victory.
“After three bogeys in a row to start I was like, fudge, I don’t know where I’m going. My head was nowhere but I just kept at it,” said Burmester.
“To hit that out of the rough and get the right bounce and roll it in — I watched Jon’s go left and I knew I hard to right line — to roll it in in front of everybody that’s here is amazing.”
It was Burmester’s second LIV title after last year in Miami.
Ballester, the 2023 European Amateur and 2024 US Amateur champion who turned professional in June, was in only his seventh pro event at age 21.
Rahm, Ballester, Burmester and Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz, who finished fourth, shared the lead at eight-under with three holes remaining.
Burmester birdied the 16th from four feet to seize the solo lead but Ballester sank a four-foot birdie putt at 18 and Rahm made his birdie putt from five feet to force the playoff.
Burmester’s horrid start signaled a final-round shootout, although his birdie at the fifth hole put him one ahead of Rahm at the turn.
Ballester birdied the par-four 10th to match Burmester for the lead and they both birdied the par-five 12th.
Ortiz joined the co-leaders with birdies at the par-three 13th and par-five 14th.
Ballester birdied 14 to seize the lead alone but Rahm birdied 15 to pull within one and when Ballester made bogey there moments later, the Spaniards shared the lead with Ortiz and Burmester.
Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, a five-time winner this season, finished on 211 to share 17th but still led the season points standings ahead of defending season champion Rahm entering next week’s final individual event at Indianapolis.
Burmester’s Stinger beat Niemann and Ortiz’s Torque in a playoff for the team title.

CINCINNATI: Carlos Alcaraz had to fight his way out of a second-set slump on Sunday to escape with a 6-1, 2-5, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open.
The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since a runner-up finish to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon, raced through the first set but completely lost his way in the second set, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian.
But he regained his intensity — and cut down his errors, in the third. Alcaraz fired his seventh ace to set up a match point and advanced to the third round seconds later as his opponent fired wide.
Alcaraz, seeded second claimed his 12th consecutive match at the Masters 1000 level after titles in Monte Carlo and Rome.
“It was a relief to get this win,” Alcaraz said after committing 44 unforced errors. “It was a rollercoaster of good feelings and bad feelings.
“I was happy to get the win in the end. I know that I have chances to do better.
“I will use the day off tomorrow to get my confidence back. It was a little tricky, I need to play smart tennis.”
Alcaraz, runner-up in Cincy in 2023, added: “It can be difficult to play great tennis here. The ball really flies and goes super fast. There will be some points where you don’t feel so good.
“You must maintain positive thoughts and keep going in the right way.”
Sixth seed Alex de Minaur, the Washington champion and a Toronto quarter-finalist last week, was bounced by American Reilly Opelka 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, who crushed 14 aces and saved all seven break points he faced.
“I didn’t serve as well as I’d have liked to, but everything else was working,” said Opelka, who had lost five prior matches against the Australian. “My serve fluctuated and it was a bit of a surprise that the other things came through well for me today.”
Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut dismissed Briton Cam Norrie 6-4, 6-3 while number nine seed Andrey Rublev beat American Learner Tien 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
In women’s action, second-seeded French Open champion Coco Gauff battled through a tough first set to beat China’s Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-2.
Gauff, who lifted the trophy in Cincinnati in 2023 and went on to claim her first Grand Slam title at the US Open that year, grinded through a first set marred by five service breaks.
But the seed steadied in the second set to run out the winner in 71 minutes on a first match point.
“It was a rough start,” Gauff said. “But it was about just trusting myself and the work we’ve done in practice.
“I was able to let it all go in the second set.”
Third seed Jessica Pegula, runner-up last year to Aryna Sabalenka, defeated Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 6-3.
Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, finalist last season at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, needed her last-chance match point to cement a 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5) win over Greek Maria Sakkari.
The Italian winner blew her first five match points and advanced to the third round when Sakkari delivered a double-fault. Paolini also needed five chances to win the opening set.
“It was a rollercoaster,” Paolini said. “It’s better to go in a straight line in these matches, not up and down,” she said. “The key for me was trying not to be in a rush, I tried to hit winners and move her around.
“I served well on the important points but this was not the best performance for me.”
Olympic champion Belinda Bencic was upended 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) by Veronika Kudermetova. Eighth seed Emma Navarro was eliminated 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 by German qualifier Ella Seidel.