Burmester claimed the lead by winning the 2015 Golden Pilsner Zimbabwe Open and three further wins, including the Sun Windmill Challenge at the Bloemfontein Golf Club.

The top 16 players on the Chase to the Investec Cup rankings after the PGA Championship will qualify for the season-ending ‘Investec Cup’.

Burmester claimed his second top 10 finish on the European Tour this season with his fourth place finish at the recent Tshwane Open which was won by Charl Schwartzel.

This has also seen the 26-year-old Burmester inch closer to the Top 100 in the official world golf rankings and now occupying the 119th spot. To put it in perspective, former world number one and 14-time Major champion, Tiger Woods, is listed at 444th, albeit injuries have plagued his career of late. While the Big Easy Ernie Els is 199th.

Michael Green of the Sunshine Tour told OFM Sport that he believes Schwartzel will once against surge in the official world golf rankings, but South African golf is very healthy with the younger crop coming through, which includes Burmester.

“I mean Charl (Schwartzel) is a Major winner already. He has the ability to play in all conditions all across the world and he has just put in this superlative performance in Tshwane. It’s just reward and I think he is going to climb the rankings pretty rapidly again.

“Then you have the next tier just below with Dean Burmester, Brandon Stone, Hayden Porteous and Zander Lombard – that is the future of South African golf. They are the generation behind the top ranked players and they’ve learnt their craft on the Sunshine Tour and they are spreading their wings now. I think it’s a very exciting time.”

The Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt in George runs from Thursday to Sunday.

Morgan Piek/OFM News