Two LIV Golfers Win at Australian, South African Opens

Joaquin Niemann and Dean Burmester won Sunday in come-from-behind efforts.

(AP) — Joaquin Niemann of Chile beat Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino on the second playoff hole to win the Australian Open men’s title on a wild final day.

Niemann made an eagle at the second extra hole after a number of contenders slipped away on the back nine due to gusting winds at The Australian course on Sunday.

Starting the day four shots behind, Niemann—one of the big-name signings of the breakaway LIV Golf league—produced an excellent final-round 5-under-par 66 to finish at 14-under 271 as he surged up the leaderboard and took the clubhouse lead.

Joaquin Niemann prevailed at the Australian Open in a playoff :: Mark Baker/AP

Hoshino, who was runner-up to Min Woo Lee at last week’s Australia PGA Championships, made a number of clutch putts on the final holes and closed with a 70 to make the playoff at 14 under.

Lee shot 72 and finished in third at 12 under after a frustrating day on the greens extinguished his hopes of winning in back-to-back weeks, despite sharing the overnight lead with Hoshino.

Former world No. 1 Adam Scott looked to be surging to an unlikely victory as he climbed to 14 under and into the outright lead with three holes remaining, but played his tee shot out of bounds on the par-4 7th—after starting his round on the 10th—and was forced to settle for a triple bogey that ended his hopes. Scott finished tied for fourth with England’s Laurie Canter (68).

Cam Smith’s quest for a maiden Australian Open title will need to wait for another year after he shot a final-round 70 to finish at 7 under and in a tie for 17th in a disappointing fortnight for the 2022 British Open champion, who also missed the cut at last week’s Australian PGA Championships.

In Johannesburg, Dean Burmester secured back-to-back wins at home after shooting a 4-under 68 in the final round of the South African Open Championship.

Burmester started Sunday two shots off the lead. He made six birdies and two bogeys in tricky conditions to finish at 11 under overall for a three-stroke victory. He won the Joburg Open last week.

Italian Renato Paratore (70), Sweden’s Jesper Svensson (71) and South African Ryan van Velzen (73) tied for second.

The 34-year-old Burmester now has four DP World Tour victories.

“Back-to-back. I’ve never done that before so that was special. It’s obviously one as a South African that I’ve always wanted to win,” Burmester said. “It’s a tournament I watched growing up and I watched a lot of legends.”

He appeared in danger of failing to make the cut—or having to pull out of the tournament—after not feeling well on Friday. But Burmester made it through to the weekend on the number after shooting a 74 and followed that with a 65 on Saturday to put himself in contention.