Richard Sterne (born 27 August 1981) is a South African professional golfer who plays on both the European and Sunshine Tours.
Early life In 1981, Sterne was born in Pretoria. He attended St Alban's College for secondary school. Sterne was runner-up in the Boys' 15–17 Division at the 1999 World Junior Golf Championships. That year he also won the South African Amateur.
Professional career In 2001, Sterne turned pro. He played on the European Challenge Tour in 2002 and graduated to membership of the main European Tour in 2003. Sterne 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.
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. 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 2000 Southern Cross 2001 South African Amateur Strokeplay Championship
Professional wins (10) European Tour wins (7) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up124 Oct 2004Open de Madrid−18 (70-65-66-65=266)2 strokes Anders Hansen23 Jun 2007Celtic Manor Wales Open−13 (67-67-64-65=263)1 stroke Bradley Dredge, Søren Kjeldsen, Mardan Mamat, Mads Vibe-Hastrup313 Jan 2008Joburg Open1−13 (71-68-67-65=271)Playoff Magnus A. Carlsson, Garth Mulroy414 Dec 2008(2009 season)Alfred Dunhill Championship1−17 (68-66-68-69=271)1 stroke Johan Edfors, Robert Rock521 Dec 2008(2009 season)South African Open Championship1−14 (72-69-67-66=274)Playoff Gareth Maybin610 Feb 2013Joburg Open1 (2)−27 (63-65-68-64=260)7 strokes Charl Schwartzel724 May 2026Soudal Open−18 (64-68-68-66=266)2 strokes Marcus Armitage, Jorge Campillo, Kota Kaneko, Marcus Kinhult, Jacob Skov Olesen, Victor Perez 1Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour
European Tour playoff record (2–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12007Johnnie Walker Classic Anton Haig, Oliver WilsonHaig won with birdie on first extra hole22008Joburg Open Magnus A. Carlsson, Garth MulroyWon with birdie on second extra hole32008South African Open Championship Gareth MaybinWon with birdie on first extra hole
Sunshine Tour wins (6) Legend Flagship events (1) Other Sunshine Tour (5) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up15 Feb 2005Nashua Masters−11 (68-64-67-70=269)1 stroke Titch Moore, Grant Muller218 Feb 2007Vodacom Championship−14 (73-68-68-65=274)Playoff Louis Oosthuizen313 Jan 2008Joburg Open1−13 (71-68-67-65=271)Playoff Magnus A. Carlsson, Garth Mulroy414 Dec 2008Alfred Dunhill Championship1−17 (68-66-68-69=271)1 stroke Johan Edfors, Robert Rock521 Dec 2008South African Open Championship1−14 (72-69-67-66=274)Playoff Gareth Maybin610 Feb 2013Joburg Open1 (2)−27 (63-65-68-64=260)7 strokes Charl Schwartzel 1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
Sunshine Tour playoff record (3–0) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12007Vodacom Championship Louis OosthuizenWon with birdie on second extra hole22008Joburg Open Magnus A. Carlsson, Garth MulroyWon with birdie on second extra hole32008South African Open Championship Gareth MaybinWon with birdie on first extra hole
EuroPro Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up114 Sep 2001Rye Hill Championship−7 (209)1 stroke Martin LeMesurier
Playoff record Web.com Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12014Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship Justin ThomasLost to birdie on first extra hole
Results in major championships Tournament2006200720082009Masters TournamentT25CUTU.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipCUTCUTCUTT34PGA ChampionshipWDWD Tournament201020112012201320142015201620172018Masters TournamentT25U.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipT39T21CUTT46PGA ChampionshipCUTT35T28 Tournament2019Masters TournamentPGA ChampionshipCUTU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipCUT
CUT = missed the half-way cut WD = withdrew "T" = tied for place
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 2PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 4Totals 0 0 0 0 0 3 19 8 Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (twice) Longest streak of top-10s – 0
Results in The Players Championship Tournament2008The Players ChampionshipT66 "T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Results not in chronological order before 2015. Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019ChampionshipT4473T12T4T72T51Match PlayR64R64R32R32InvitationalT5173T9T58ChampionsT60T39T60T38T70
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 World Cup (representing South Africa): 2006, 2008, 2009 Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2013
See also 2014 Web.com Tour Finals graduates
References
External links