LIV Golfer Dean Burmester Hits Coach With Tee Shot At The Open

Conditions on Friday at The 152nd Open Championship were tough, with individuals doing well to break-par around the treacherous layout at Royal Troon.

One of those players to get into red numbers was LIV Golf's Dean Burmester, who shot a two-under 69 to sit five back of leader, Shane Lowry, going into the weekend in South Ayrshire. However, the round wasn't without its fortunes for the South African... especially at the 13th hole!

Firing a level-par score on Thursday, Burmester found himself two-under for the day after the front nine on Friday, following three birdies and a bogey. What's more, as he played the difficult loop around Royal Troon, he stayed at the same score as he headed for home, with more opportunities presenting themselves. 

The par 4 13th wasn't one of those chances, though, with the 473-yard hole ranked the sixth hardest on Friday as the wind started to really pick up. Despite this, Burmester managed to par the hole, before revealing to the media after that he had struck his coach with a wayward tee shot!

"I blocked one way right on 13, and it actually hit my coach, and it was going towards the grandstand," revealed the Stingers GC player, who is searching for his first top 10 in a Major championship.

"It (the tee shot) was heading towards the gorse bush and it kind of split in between them and I managed to have a swing and hit a shot that was going left of the green, bounced right and bounced on to the green and made four. Hey, that's links golf for you, and if you go around here, there's going to be good bounces and bad bounces".

For those wondering, Burmester didn't have his coach placed there deliberately! In fact the 35-year-old jokingly stated after: "I actually told him, I can't believe you got in the way because the one that hit him was on the way to the grandstand and nice and open, flat grass; it's like being in the fairway".

It wouldn't be the first time that we have heard of players striking someone close to them with a golf ball! Back at the 2021 Masters, Rory McIlroy managed to strike his father, Gerry, on the back of the leg at the seventh hole. 

Along with McIlroy, Charley Hull almost hit her Solheim Cup captain, Suzann Pettersen, during the tournament in 2023. Playing the par 5 eighth, the Englishwoman went for the green and pushed her second shot right, with the incoming missile narrowly avoiding Pettersen and her husband, Christian Ringvold.