Dean Burmester, after his two back-to-back DP World Tour wins, is once again in the headlines courtesy of a spectacular performance at the LIV Golf Mayakoba event. Burmester, though, a four-time winner on the DP World Tour, has seen enough ups and downs in his career. The South African Pro went without titles for six years between 2015 and 2021. Once again, Burmester had to wait two more years to knock off his fourth victory on the European Tour.

His family has stood as a pillar during those toughest times. Family for Burmester is more important than golf. Dean Burmester is married to Melissa Burmester. They tied the knot on November 23, 2014. Burmester has two children with Melissa: Jordan, now six, and Alexander, who was born in October 2022. Family is something that the South African Open winner values the most. Let us dive deeper to see what else is known about his relationship with Mel.

Was his wife the reason why Dean Burmester joined LIV Golf?

Family time has been a reason for many pros to join LIV Golf. The short 14-event calendar allows more time in between games to spend with family. For example, after the Las Vegas event, the upstart league will have a month-long break before returning to Jeddah in March.

Burmester said in the Fairway to Heaven podcast, “I was playing a pretty strict schedule, you know, with majors and for DP World Tour season. And then obviously, going into the Korn ferry tour finals. And then all of a sudden, I had a stacked PGA Tour season on top of that, so it was like, I’m looking at, you know, 30 to 36 weeks.” Then suddenly, the South African had the LIV golf gate open for him. Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open Champion, gave him a ring. The Stinger GC needed a fourth player on the roster. Both Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel wanted him on the team as well.

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But Burmester was still dithering. LIV Golf doesn’t get World Ranking points, so his major hopes would have to take a backseat. Furthermore, the doors to the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour would close to him until a breakthrough between the two sides and the PIF was reached. But his wife was the one who put all that to rest.

Burmester recounted in the podcast, “I think, the Friday or the Saturday Evening of AmEx, I was sitting with my wife Mel, and we were just chatting. She, like basically, broke down in tears and said, ‘You know, COVID was like, the best time’”. Because the restricted schedule allowed Dean Burmester to spend more time with the family. 

The four-time DP World Tour winner said, “I was able to spend lots of time with, our son, Jordan. And now we had Alex, our youngest.” That was the final straw, as Burmester added, “It was kind of like, when that moment happened, it was instant, because I went from a 34-week schedule to, you know, 14 to 18-week schedule.” Burmester, too, already knew the importance of family. He had to learn it the hard way.

When Burmester almost lost his family

In 2020, the South African was coming back to the hotel after a day out with his wife and son in Dubai. While coming back from the Dubai Aquarium, his Uber rammed into a Porsche. Burmester escaped with minor injuries, only a strain that compelled him to play with a strap.

Luckily, both his wife and son also suffered minor injuries. Burmester, surprisingly, came away with a T3 finish in a tournament 48 hours later. But the only thing going on in the back of his mind was the accident and how miraculously they all came out unscathed. The car accident taught Pro an important lesson. 

Read More: ‘Put My Name Next to His…’: Tiger Woods, Who Rejected a Whopping $800M to Join LIV Golf, Inspires 33-Year-Old Pro to Commit to the PGA Tour

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