• South African golfer Dean Burmester admits that he is not worried at all as he competes in his first event since the coronavirus pandemic.
• The British Masters, which will be played without any spectators, is scheduled to get underway from Thursday.
• Burmester couldn't contain his excitement and is looking forward to getting back to competitive golf.

South African golfer Dean Burmester is excited to get back to competitive golf as he plays in his first event since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

This week, Burmester will line up at the British Masters - his first competitive golf since the Qatar Masters in March.

After two events in Austria, the European Tour's reshaped 2020 season continues with the UK Swing, a six-event series starting on Thursday.

Burmester, who is ranked 185th on the World Golf Rankings, says that he is excited to get back on the course.

"I'm very excited to get going, glad to have gotten here (England) safe," Burmester told Sport24.

"I've been through all the testing and it's come back negative so everything is good to go."

Burmester is one of eight South Africans in the field for this week's tournament at Close House GC in Kent.

He admitted that he is not worried about his safety at all and revealed that the golfers and caddies are staying in bio-secure areas.

"The European Tour has some great protocols in place so everyone feels pretty safe. It's kind of like being in your own bubble, you kind of cut yourself off from the rest of the world but we get to compete and play again so that's the most exciting thing," he said.

"Just looking forward to getting back out there and having some fun," Burmester added.

This week's British Masters will be hosted by former world No 1 Lee Westwood with Sweden's Marcus Kinhult defending his title.

Round 1 tee times (SA time):

08:00 - Justin Walters, Michael Campbell, Benjamin Poke

10:00 - Ross Fisher, Justin Harding, Andrea Pavan

11:00 - Callum Shinkwin, Louis de Jager, Jack Singh Brar

12:10 - Jonathan Caldwell, Bryce Easton, Connor Syme

12:20 - Joachim B Hansen, Calum Fyfe, Zander Lombard

13:40 - Jordan Smith, Andrew Johnston, Dean Burmester

14:10 - Marc Warren, Brandon Stone, Miguel Angel Jimenez

15:10 - Haydn Porteous, Richard Bland, Julien Guerrier