Richard Sterne ended a 13-year wait for a DP World Tour victory as the South African closed with a 66 to win the Soudal Open at Rinkven International Golf Club in Belgium.
The 44-year-old began the final round five shots behind overnight leader Zander Lombard but produced a blistering start, birdieing the first, second and fifth holes to surge to 16 under. A lone blemish, a bogey at the eighth, was followed by a remarkable 17th hole where Sterne flew a metalwood 276 yards to within a few feet of the cup, tapping in for eagle. He parred the 18th to finish the week at 18 under, two strokes clear of a six-way group at 16 under that included Marcus Armitage.
Sterne’s victory was his seventh on the DP World Tour and will see him leap 124 places in the Race to Dubai rankings. The win was hard earned; Sterne has endured a long run of serious injuries including three wrist operations, a disc replacement, hip surgery and back surgery, and there had been questions about whether he could return to tour form after his latest procedures.
“It’s been a tough ride,” Sterne said after the 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.” He added that one of his goals was to win while his children could see it — his eldest is about to turn 13, roughly the length of the title drought — and that the week proved he can still compete after everything he has been through.
On the 17th, Sterne said he had a five-wood in the bag (no three-wood) and needed a draw to reach the green. “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.” That shot set up the eagle that effectively sealed the victory.
Lombard, who had led comfortably through three rounds, collapsed on his back nine. Two bogeys and a double bogey in his closing five holes saw him tumble down to a tie for eighth. A visibly emotional Lombard admitted he battled his game on Sunday and rued finding water at the 13th and getting stuck against the lip on 14. “There are no emotions or words for those emotions,” he said. “I’m disappointed with myself… But 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.”
Marcus Armitage climbed 11 places on Sunday with seven birdies and two bogeys to move into the group at 16 under alongside Olesen, Jorge Campillo of Spain, Japan’s Kota Kaneko and France’s Victor Perez. Olesen had surged on Saturday with a 67 but could not match Sterne on the final day, dropping shots either side of the turn to finish two off the pace.
England’s Andrew “Beef” Johnston ended the week at 14 under, tied for 13th. Johnston had been level with Sterne at 13 under entering the final round after rounds of 69, 64 and 67, but a mixed closing round featuring an eagle at 16 and four bogeys left him one under for the day.
The DP World Tour now moves on to Austria for the Austrian Alpine Open at Gut Altentann in Salzburg, where Nicolai von Dellingshausen will defend his title.