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 Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

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 The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History T ...

in 2002 and graduated to membership of the main

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

in 2003. He won his first European Tour title at the 2004 Open de Madrid. In the 2007

, Sterne won at the

Celtic Manor Wales Open The Wales Open was a professional golf tournament on the European Tour played at the Celtic Manor Resort. It was played annually from 2000 to 2014, as part of a 15-year deal between the tour and the Celtic Manor Resort, that included staging the ...

, and finished second at the

Johnnie Walker Classic The Johnnie Walker Classic was a European Tour golf tournament which was played in the Asia-Pacific region. Johnnie Walker is a brand name and the owners have a long history of tournament sponsorship. They also sponsored the Johnnie Walker Champi ...

, third at the

BMW PGA Championship The BMW PGA Championship is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 1955 by the Professional Golfers' Association, and originally called the British PGA Championship. History 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 The Joburg Open is a men's professional golf tournament that is held in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is an event on the Southern Africa-based Sunshine Tour and co-sanctioned by the European Tour, which attracts a larger prize fund and stronger ...

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

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 The Dubai Desert Classic is a European Tour golf tournament held on Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In 1999 and 2000 it was held at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, all other editions have been held at Emirates Go ...

. 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 The WGC Match Play, currently titled as the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for sponsorship reasons, is a professional men's golf tournament that has been held since 1999. It is the only one of the World Golf Championships to have been contested ...

and to the top of the Race to Dubai standings. Later he finished second at the

Alstom Open de France The Open de France is a European Tour golf tournament. Inaugurated in 1906 it is the oldest national open in Continental Europe and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since the tour's inception in 1972. The 100th edition of the event ...

, ninth at the

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational The WGC Invitational was a professional golf tournament that was held in the United States. Established in 1999 as a successor to the World Series of Golf, it was one of three or four annual World Golf Championships (WGC) until 2021, when the n ...

, 13th at the

Omega European Masters The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with E ...

, and 14th at the

DP World Tour Championship, Dubai The DP World Tour Championship is a golf tournament on the European Tour and is the climax of the DP World Tour Rankings. It is contested on the Greg Norman-designed Earth course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The t ...

. 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

and 35th at the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

. He qualified to the Web.com Tour Finals, where he ended second at the

Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship The Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship is a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour. It was played for the first time in July 2007 at The Ohio State University Golf Club's Scarlet Course in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Jack Nicklaus, a former ...

. 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 Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...

, 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 (9)

European Tour wins (6)

¹Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour European Tour playoff record (2–1)

Sunshine Tour wins (6)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Sunshine Tour playoff record (3–0)

EuroPro Tour wins (1)

*2001 Rye Hill Championship

Playoff record

Web.com Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

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

Summary

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

Results in The Players Championship

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

''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.

Team appearances

Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing South Africa): 2006,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 2009 *

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

(representing the International team):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sterne, Richard South African male golfers European Tour golfers Sunshine Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates White South African people Sportspeople from Pretoria Sportspeople from Manchester 1981 births Living people