LIV Golf Chicago: Dean Burmester Main After Spherical 2, Staff Leaderboard Is Tight

BOLINGBROOK, Ill.– On Saturday, Dean Burmester of Stinger GC took control of LIV Golf Chicago by shooting a spectacular 6-under 65 on a windy day at Bolingbrook Golf Club to improve to 9-under for the tournament and give himself a two-shot lead leading into Championship Sunday. Burmester is seeking his first victory of the 2025 season.

On the team side, Crushers GC, Fireballs GC and Stinger GC are tied atop the team leaderboard at 10-under.

While it’s Burmester in the individual lead, Josele Ballester may have been the player to steal the spotlight on Friday. The Fireballs GC rookie and former U.S. Amateur champion shot a 5-under 66 while making only his seventh professional start. Ballester finished tied for seventh in his most recent start at LIV Golf UK by JCB and is now in a tie for second alongside Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm (4-under 67) through two rounds. Ballester, 21, made five birdies and an eagle while only making one bogey to get into the clubhouse at 7-under par.

The youngest Fireballs GC player surged his team to a tie at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round, as the Fireballs seek a fourth team victory of the season. Crushers GC is also seeking a fourth team victory in 2025.

Rahm is chasing his first victory of the 2025 season while also targeting the season-long individual points title. With a strong chance to secure both honors, Rahm is well positioned to close the gap on Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, who is faltering this week with rounds of 74-70, leaving him tied for 35th. Should Rahm claim the tournament title and Niemann finish 19th or lower, Rahm will seize the lead in the season-long race with one event remaining in Indianapolis.

On the relegation front, Torque GC’s Mito Pereira shot a 1-over 72, dropping him to tied for 18th on the leaderboard, which is well short of what he’d hoped for after starting the tournament hot with a 2-under 69 on Friday. Andy Ogletree of HyFlyers GC, who’s battling a wrist injury, struggled as well, shooting a 2-over 73 to slip to tied for 25th on the leaderboard as he attempts to secure his place for the 2026 season.

Anthony Kim struggled on Friday with an 11-over 82, the day’s lowest score, but staged a remarkable comeback on Saturday, carding a 3-under 68 — a stunning 14-shot improvement.

The round of the day belonged Burmester as well as Torque GC’s Carlos Ortiz, who also shot a 6-under 65.

For the round, Bolingbrook GC produced a field scoring average of –0.22 compared to +0.41 in Round 1.

TEAM SCORES

LIV Golf’s new scoring format this season now involves all four scores now counting in every round in the team competition. Here are the results and scores for each team after Saturday’s Round 2 of LIV Golf Chicago.

This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.

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