South African golfer Dean Burmester has explained his decision to wear a Bafana Bafana shirt during the LIV Golf tournament—an iconic moment that has since gone viral after he sported the jersey during one of the rounds.
The LIV Golf men’s tour is being held in South Africa for the first time at Steyn City, Johannesburg. It features some of the world’s famous golfers.
During the second day of the four-day tournament, Burmester donned the new Adidas Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana away jersey. This is after the 2026/27 away jersey was officially launched in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Friday.
It was launched ahead of South Africa’s participation in the upcoming FIFA 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
Burmester, who hit a dream tee shot to within two feet to set up a birdie at the par-3 17th while wearing the Bafana jersey, explained the logic behind the move.
GOLFER EXPLAINS REASONS BEHIND SHOWING SUPPORT FOR BAFANA BAFANA
“So I mean, look, every Friday obviously in South Africa we love supporting our teams,” he told journalists.
“With the football World Cup coming up, it’s ‘Football Friday.’ You’ve got to support Bafana Bafana, and we were lucky enough that they sent us some jerseys, so I thought it would be a cool idea to put one on.
“To hit that kind of golf shot afterwards was super special. Honestly, halfway through the flight, I thought it was in. I’ve dreamt about that moment for about ten days—it was probably a top-three moment of my career.”
The 36-year-old, who is part of the Stinger GC team alongside his fellow South Africans, also explained the reasoning behind the number 22 on his jersey.
“The number 22 is because two was my favourite number growing up, and then I met my wife, and two became her favourite number as well.
“So, 22 became our favourite number because we are ‘two and two.’ We even got married on the 22nd of November; everything was kind of divisible by two. It’s a pretty cool sentiment for me.”
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