Dean Burmester made headlines at the end of 2023 when he won back-to-back DP World Tour events at the Joburg Open and Investec South African Open Championship, but it turns out, he was just getting started.
Since then, the LIV Golf player has been riding high in the big-money circuit’s individual standings, helped by his maiden victory in the League, when he defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff in Miami.
Because of that, he is also one of LIV Golf’s highest earners in 2024. Burmester banked $4m for his victory at Trump National Doral, but other strong performances included T3s at LIV Golf Mayakoba in Mexico and LIV Golf Adelaide, with more than $2m coming from those performances.
Overall, after just seven LIV Golf events this year, Burmester stands second on the LIV Golf money list behind Joaquin Niemann, with earnings of $7,258,013.
For context, in the 179 DP World Tour events of Burmester’s career, which includes four wins, he has only earned €4,522,717m (about $4.9m). Meanwhile, after 21 PGA Tour events, his earnings stand at $1,093,208m.
Combined, those figures still don’t come close to his 2024 earnings so far, and that earning power is one reason why Burmester has stated he’s satisfied with his decision to sign for LIV Golf.
In an interview on The Human Golf Show podcast, which took place before he began amassing his huge 2024 earnings, he was asked if he had any regrets over the move.
He replied: “No regrets. Absolutely none. I’ve been able to give my kids an amazing life so far and have also been able to secure things for them for their future. If both my sons come to me and say, ‘I want to go study to get into NASA,’ or ‘I want to go to Stanford or Yale,’ or ‘I want to go to St Andrews,’ or whatever it is, I can say, ‘Go for it.’”
Burmester’s excellent form in 2024 has continued at the PGA Championship, where he has emerged as a contender for the Wanamaker Trophy.
There's prize money of $18.5m available at the Major and the winner will claim $3.33m. Regardless of whether or not Burmester goes on to lift the trophy, with his stunning form continuing, when the LIV Golf League resumes in June, he will be primed to secure plenty more wealth for his family in the seven tournaments that remain this season.
