Richard Sterne (born 27 August 1981) is a South African

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on both the

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

and

Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the Southern Africa Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the F ...

Life and career

Sterne was born in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

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, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European To ...

in 2002 and graduated to membership of the main

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

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, 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 Cham ...

, 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 (Great Britain & Ireland), Professional Golfers' Association, and originally called the ...

and fourth at the

Barclays Scottish Open Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

, 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

, 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 European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

is 8th in 2013. His Celtic Manor win moved him into the top 40 of the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

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

. 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 ...

. 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, titled in later years as the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for sponsorship reasons, was a professional men's golf tournament that had been held since 1999. It was the only one of the World Golf Championships to have been co ...

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 nu ...

, 13th at the

Omega European Masters The Omega European Masters is the Switzerland, 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 pr ...

, 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 Race to Dubai. It is contested on the Greg Norman-designed Earth course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The title spo ...

. 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. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

. 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 O ...

. 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 (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 tour and nine ...

, 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

European Tour playoff record (2–1)

Sunshine Tour wins (6)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Sunshine Tour playoff record (3–0)

EuroPro Tour wins (1)

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 name is ...

(representing South Africa):

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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 except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

(representing the International team):

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sterne, Richard South African male golfers European Tour golfers Sunshine Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Pretoria Golfers from Manchester Alumni of St. Alban's College White South African people 1981 births Living people Presidents Cup competitors for International 21st-century South African sportsmen