Richard Sterne ended his 13-year-long winless drought on the DP World Tour with a two-shot victory at the Soudal Open.
The 44-year-old South African, who previously tasted success on the circuit at the 2013 Joburg Open, came into the final round at Rinkven International Golf Club five shots off the lead held by fellow South African Zander Lombard. But Sterne made a positive start to the day with consecutive birdies at the 1st and 2nd and added a further birdie at the fifth. Sterne’s start helped him close the gap to the top but Lombard placed in the final group, quickly increased the gap to four with a birdie start of his own. Then came Sterne’s one and only bogey of the round at the eighth which he quickly recovered from but Lombard looked to still be in control and set for a maiden DP World Tour triumph.
A bogey at the 13th saw Lombard’s lead cut down to two with the chasing pack featuring six players, including Sterne, looking to pounce. Sterne then piled the pressure on his compatriot as he tapped in for eagle at the 17th to draw level with Lombard at the summit. The situation worsened for Lombard thanks to a double-bogey at the 14th which handed Sterne the outright lead. He fell even further back with a bogey at the 16th as Sterne, who carded a final-round 66 and finished on 18 under, looked to be on the verge of entering the winners circle for the first time in over 13 years. In the end, none of the chasing pack were able to reach Sterne’s total as he secured a long-awaited seventh career DP World Tour win.
“It’s been a tough ride,” Sterne said following his triumph. “A lot of injuries, a lot of hard things that I’ve gone through, but to get back in the winner’s circle is quite unexpected today, to be honest.
“I thought I was one behind playing the last, but then got on to the 18th green and had a quick look at the board and was quite surprised.”
Second was shared by six players: Spain’s Jorge Campillo, Japan’s Kota Kaneko, France’s Victor Perez, England’s Marcus Armitage, Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult, and Norway’s Jacob Skov Olesen while Lombard’s back-nine collapse saw him card a final-round 74 and finish T8.
What is the next event?
The next event on the DP World Tour schedule is the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol taking place between 28-31 May at Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith in Austria.