Richard Sterne ended a 13-year-long wait for a title on the DP World Tour as the South African claimed a two-shot victory to win the Soudal Open at the Rinkven International Golf Club in Belgium.
The 44-year-old started his final round five shots off the overnight leader Zander Lombard, who had held a comfortable lead over a chasing pack of players before he unravelled in his final five holes, posting two bogeys and a double-bogey, to fall down to T8 on the leaderboard.
Sterne, meanwhile, flew out of the blocks on Sunday, making birdies on holes one, two and five to jump to 16 under par. A bogey on the eighth hole followed – the lone blemish on his scorecard – but Sterne rebounded, almost flying a metalwood from 276 yards out into the hole on the par-five 17th for an albatross.
His ball pitched up just a couple of feet short of the cup, with Sterne tapping in for eagle before making a par on the last, to end his weekend at 18 under par – two shots ahead of a pack of six players at 16 under, which included Englishman Marcus Armitage.
Sterne is now a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour and will sensationally jump up 124 places on the Race To Dubai Rankings, but getting back into the winner’s circle has not been easy, with the South African’s career having been blighted by serious injuries to his wrist and back.
“It’s been a tough ride,” Sterne said after his round. “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.
Zander Lombard collapsed on his back-nine to finish T8 at the Soudal Open
“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.”
After undergoing his last back surgery, there were doubts over whether Sterne would be able to compete on the DP World Tour again.
“Three wrist ops, a disc replacement, hip surgery, I’ve been through it all, so I’m pretty happy,” he added.
“It’s been very tough, the last couple of years, but there’s been some signs of good things.
“One of the main goals was to win with my children actually seeing it – my oldest is 13 soon, it’s been pretty much that long, so it’s nice to eventually let them see me win.
“And then I suppose just to prove to myself that I can still compete at this age, after all I’ve been through.”
Marcus Armitage finished second at the Soudal Open
Sterne said his metalwood on the 17th was one of the best shots he has ever hit.
“It was a long way for me,” Sterne said on the shot. “I had a five-wood in the bag, I don’t have a three-wood, it was 276 yards, and I needed to hit a little draw on there to get the distance.
“It just came out as good as I could, it ended up great – three, four feet away – and yeah, it was one of the best shots I’ve hit.”
Olesen surged up the leaderboard on Saturday, with a brilliant score of 67, but fell short of Sterne during his final round, posting three bogeys either side of the turn to end his weekend at 16 under par.
Armitage rose 11 places up the leaderboard on Sunday, with seven birdies and two bogeys in his final round to join Olesen at T2, alongside Jorge Campillo of Spain, Japan’s Kota Kaneko and Frenchman Victor Perez.
Meanwhile, Englishman Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston wrapped up his weekend at 14 under par to finish tied for 13th.
Johnston had been tied with Sterne at 13 under coming into Sunday’s final round, following three impressive opening days, scoring 69, 64 and 67.
However, the Englishman fell down seven places on the leaderboard following a mixed round that included four bogeys, three birdies and an eagle on the 16th, which kept him to one under par.
Lombard: ‘There are no words for these emotions’
A devastated Lombard said he battled with his game on Sunday but ‘wasn’t good enough’
A devastated Lombard explained he battled with his game during his first nine holes before a string of mistakes, including finding the water on the 13th, let him down.
“There are no emotions or words for those emotions,” Lombard said. “I’m disappointed with myself. I thought I handled today really well up until then, a really good drive on No 13, just caught the edge of the water.
“Fought my way through it. Stuck against the lip on 14. Couldn’t do anything with it.
“Just compounded the mistake there. Stayed in it. Tried my best, and I just wasn’t good enough today.
“I’ve achieved what I came out to do, which is be in contention and feel those feelings of fighting for it and what it’s worth, playing for.
“In reflection, it is still a good week, points on the board, lots of points from this week, and we’ll take it to next week.”
What’s next?
The DP World Tour’s European swing continues next week as the tour heads to Austria for the Austrian Alpine Open. German Nicolai von Dellingshausen will look to defend his title at the Gut Altentann Golf Club in Salzburg.
Watch all four rounds live on Sky Sports. First round coverage commences on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Golf from 12pm on Thursday. Get Sky Sports or stream golf with no contract
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
