In August 1970 Burgess was in the process of turning professional. By December his application had been approved and he had started working at Muirfield Golf Club in Sydney. Like all Australian apprentices of the era, Burgess was not allowed to earn money in professional events for a year. In September he was in contention for the
Australian PGA Championship. Burgess was at a tie for seventh entering the final round at 218 (+5), three back of leader
Vic Bennetts. A month later, in October, he shot a third round 67 (−5) to get into contention for the
Wills Masters. He ultimately finished in a tie for third with American
Bob Murphy, three back of champion
David Graham. In 1976, Burgess traveled to Europe to play a number of events. In the fourth event of the European calendar, he recorded a top-10 at the
French Open. Burgess also qualified for and play in the
1976 Open Championship. He would make the cut. Overall, Burgess played in 11
European Tour events and made the cut in nine of them. It was Burgess' first major win in 6 years. This excellent continued through early 1977. In February 1977, he put himself in a tie for third place with a score of 140 (−4) after the second round of the
Victorian Open. He shot 71 (−1) in the third round to remain in 3rd. However, he struggled to keep up in the final round and finished outside the top 5. The following month, he played at the
Queanbeyan City Open. He opened with a 68 (−2) to position himself in the top-10, four behind
George Serhan. He then stormed into the lead with a second round 65 (−5) to take a two shot lead over
Greg Norman. In the third round, with an even-par round of 70, he maintained his two shot lead over Norman. Through the first 12 holes, Burgess played bogey-free golf but his lead had been eliminated. Playing ahead, Norman made a number of early birdies and then birdied the par-3 13th. It was the first time all weekend he held a share of the lead. When Burgess arrived to the 13th his tee shot hit a bank and deflected off the green. It was a "tense" situation and Burgess thought his chances of winning might be over at this point. However he pitched to one-metre and made the par putt to remain tied. Three holes later, Burgess would birdie the par-5 16th, a hole that had already produced two eagles and one birdie for him that week, to regain the solo lead. After Norman made bogey on the 17th hole, Burgess strode to the final hole with a two shot advantage. Despite hitting his approach into a bunker he "unhesitatingly" hit his sand shot to one-metre, assuring par and the two shot win. Later in the year, Burgess again would play in Europe. He played in only four events this time, however. He held the lead over
Ted Ball and Ray Hore. == Personal life ==