Richard Sterne (golfer)

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Richard Sterne
Personal information
Born	(1981-08-27) 27 August 1981 (age 43) Pretoria, South Africa
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	68 kg (150 lb; 10.7 st)
Sporting 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
Highest ranking	29 (27 January 2008)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	6
Sunshine Tour	6
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	T25: 2008, 2013
PGA Championship	T28: 2017
U.S. Open	CUT: 2008
The Open Championship	T21: 2013
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.

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.^[2]

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.^[3] 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.

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

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	24 Oct 2004	Open de Madrid	−18 (70-65-66-65=266)	2 strokes	Anders Hansen
2	3 Jun 2007	Celtic Manor Wales Open	−13 (67-67-64-65=263)	1 stroke	Bradley Dredge, Søren Kjeldsen, Mardan Mamat, Mads Vibe-Hastrup
3	13 Jan 2008	Joburg Open1	−13 (71-68-67-65=271)	Playoff	Magnus A. Carlsson, Garth Mulroy
4	14 Dec 2008 (2009 season)	Alfred Dunhill Championship1	−17 (68-66-68-69=271)	1 stroke	Johan Edfors, Robert Rock
5	21 Dec 2008 (2009 season)	South African Open Championship1	−14 (72-69-67-66=274)	Playoff	Gareth Maybin
6	10 Feb 2013	Joburg Open1 (2)	−27 (63-65-68-64=260)	7 strokes	Charl Schwartzel

¹Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour

European Tour playoff record (2–1)

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

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	5 Feb 2005	Nashua Masters	−11 (68-64-67-70=269)	1 stroke	Titch Moore, Grant Muller
2	18 Feb 2007	Vodacom Championship	−14 (73-68-68-65=274)	Playoff	Louis Oosthuizen
3	13 Jan 2008	Joburg Open1	−13 (71-68-67-65=271)	Playoff	Magnus A. Carlsson, Garth Mulroy
4	14 Dec 2008	Alfred Dunhill Championship1	−17 (68-66-68-69=271)	1 stroke	Johan Edfors, Robert Rock
5	21 Dec 2008	South African Open Championship1	−14 (72-69-67-66=274)	Playoff	Gareth Maybin
6	10 Feb 2013	Joburg 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.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2007	Vodacom Championship	Louis Oosthuizen	Won with birdie on second extra hole
2	2008	Joburg Open	Magnus A. Carlsson, Garth Mulroy	Won with birdie on second extra hole
3	2008	South African Open Championship	Gareth Maybin	Won with birdie on first extra hole

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	14 Sep 2001	Rye Hill Championship	−7 (209)	1 stroke	Martin LeMesurier

Web.com Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2014	Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship	Justin Thomas	Lost to birdie on first extra hole

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

• Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (twice)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 0

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results not in chronological order before 2015.

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.

Professional

• World Cup (representing South Africa): 2006, 2008, 2009
• Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2013

• 2014 Web.com Tour Finals graduates

• Richard Sterne at the European Tour official site
• Richard Sterne at the Sunshine Tour official site
• Richard Sterne at the PGA Tour official site
• Richard Sterne at the Official World Golf Ranking official site