Richard Sterne (golfer)

Richard Sterne
Personal information
Full name Richard Sterne
Born (1981-08-27) 27 August 1981
Pretoria, South Africa
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 68 kg (150 lb; 10.7 st)
Nationality  South Africa
Residence Pretoria, South Africa;
Manchester, England
Career
Turned professional 2001
Current tour(s) European Tour
Sunshine Tour
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Professional wins 9
Number of wins by tour
European Tour 6
Sunshine Tour 6
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T25: 2008, 2013
U.S. Open CUT: 2008
The Open Championship T21: 2013
PGA Championship T28: 2017
Achievements and awards
Sunshine Tour
Order of Merit winner		 2008

Richard Sterne (born 27 August 1981) is a South African professional golfer who plays on both the European and Sunshine Tours.

Life and career

Sterne was born in Pretoria and attended St Alban's College for high school. He was runner-up in the Boys' 15–17 Division at the 1999 World Junior Golf Championships and turned pro in 2001. He played on the European Challenge Tour in 2002 and graduated to membership of the main European Tour in 2003. He won his first European Tour title at the 2004 Open de Madrid.

In the 2007 European Tour, Sterne won at the Celtic Manor Wales Open, and finished second at the Johnnie Walker Classic, third at the BMW PGA Championship and fourth at the Barclays Scottish Open, therefore finishing 14th in the Order of Merit. In 2008 he picked up his third victory at the Joburg Open which is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, and at the end of 2008 won a further two European Tour tournaments in South Africa.

His best year-end ranking on the European Order of Merit is 8th in 2013. His Celtic Manor win moved him into the top 40 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time.[1]

He has had six wins on the Sunshine Tour, and won that tour's Order of Merit in 2008. In January 2008 he reached a career high of number 29 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He missed most of the 2010 and 2011 seasons with injury.

In February 2013, Sterne won the Joburg Open by seven strokes, to end a four-year winless drought from which he had been plagued with back injuries.[2] This marked his sixth victory on both the European and Sunshine Tours and came on the back of a second-place finish he had in the previous week at the Dubai Desert Classic. It was also the first event that he had won wire-to-wire. The win moved him inside the top 60, which meant qualification for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and to the top of the Race to Dubai standings. Later he finished second at the Alstom Open de France, ninth at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, 13th at the Omega European Masters, and 14th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. As a result, he was eighth in the Race to Dubai final standings.

During the 2014 season, Sterne finished fourth at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, 17th at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and 35th at the PGA Championship. He qualified to the Web.com Tour Finals, where he ended second at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship. He finished ninth in the Web.com Tour Finals to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2014–15 season.

Sterne is friends with South African golf icon, Gary Player, to whom he is often compared because of their similar small stature. He has played several times in the Gary Player Invitational charity event to help raise funds for less fortunate children's education.

Amateur wins

  • 1999 South African Junior Strokeplay & Matchplay Championship, South African Amateur Championship
  • 2000 Southern Cross
  • 2001 South African Amateur Strokeplay Championship

Professional wins (9)

European Tour wins (6)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 24 Oct 2004 Open de Madrid −18 (70-65-66-65=266) 2 strokes Denmark Anders Hansen
2 3 Jun 2007 Celtic Manor Wales Open −13 (67-67-64-65=263) 1 stroke Wales Bradley Dredge, Denmark Søren Kjeldsen,
Singapore Mardan Mamat, Denmark Mads Vibe-Hastrup
3 13 Jan 2008 Joburg Open −13 (71-68-67-65=271) Playoff Sweden Magnus A. Carlsson, South Africa Garth Mulroy
4 14 Dec 2008
(2009 season)		 Alfred Dunhill Championship −17 (68-66-68-69=271) 1 stroke Sweden Johan Edfors, England Robert Rock
5 21 Dec 2008
(2009 season)		 South African Open Championship −14 (72-69-67-66=274) Playoff Northern Ireland Gareth Maybin
6 10 Feb 2013 Joburg Open (2) −27 (63-65-68-64=260) 7 strokes South Africa Charl Schwartzel

European Tour playoff record (2–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2007 Johnnie Walker Classic South Africa Anton Haig, England Oliver Wilson Haig won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2008 Joburg Open Sweden Magnus A. Carlsson, South Africa Garth Mulroy Won with birdie on second extra hole
3 2008 South African Open Championship Northern Ireland Gareth Maybin Won with birdie on first extra hole

Sunshine Tour wins (6)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 5 Feb 2005 Nashau Masters −11 (68-64-67-70=269) 1 stroke South Africa Titch Moore, South Africa Grant Muller
2 18 Feb 2007 Vodacom Championship −14 (73-68-68-65=274) Playoff South Africa Louis Oosthuizen
3 13 Jan 2008 Joburg Open −13 (71-68-67-65=271) Playoff Sweden Magnus A. Carlsson, South Africa Garth Mulroy
4 14 Dec 2008 Alfred Dunhill Championship −17 (68-66-68-69=271) 1 stroke Sweden Johan Edfors, England Robert Rock
5 21 Dec 2008 South African Open −14 (72-69-67-66=274) Playoff Northern Ireland Gareth Maybin
6 10 Feb 2013 Joburg Open (2) −27 (63-65-68-64=260) 7 strokes South Africa Charl Schwartzel

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Masters Tournament T25 CUT T25
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship CUT CUT CUT T34 T39 T21 CUT T46
PGA Championship WD WD CUT T35 T28
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied for place

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00000232
U.S. Open00000010
The Open Championship00000184
PGA Championship00000041
Totals000003167
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (twice, current)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 0

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament20072008200920102011201220132014201520162017
Mexico Championship T44 73 T12 T4 T72
Match Play R64 R64 R32 R32
Bridgestone Invitational T51 73 T9 T58
HSBC Champions T60 T39 T60 T38
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Professional

See also

References

  1. ↑ "KJ Choi Wins the Memorial and Climbs into the World Top 20". OWGR. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Dawes, Mike (10 February 2013). "Sterne hits record score to claim victory in Johannesburg over favourite Schwartzel". Daily Mail. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
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