Born on August 27, 1981, Richard Sterne hails from Pretoria, South Africa, and comes from a family with a rich sporting history. His father has links to motor racing, while his mother used to be an ice-skater. Even his sister, Farrah, is a distinguished squash player in South Africa. In this athletic jam, Sterne found his introduction to golf through his grandmother when he was only four years old.

His talents came to be known from quite an early age, as he dominated the amateur scenes in his nation. He became only the 2nd player, after Trevor Immelman, to win both the junior and senior National Stroke Play and Match Play titles. In 1999, he was also the runner-up at the World Junior Golf Championship for the 15-17 Division. In 2001, Sterne turned pro.

Richard won the 2008 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, having ranked the highest in prize money earned from Sunshine Tour events over the season. 2008 was a marquee year, indeed. Sterne accomplished an unprecedented feat in South African golf when he won the 2008 Joburg Open, Alfred Dunhill, and South African Open Championships in one calendar year.

Since turning professional, Richard has won six DP World Tour events after having played 401 tournaments. His best wins include the Joburg Open win in 2013 and the Celtic Manor Wales Open win in 2007. His 2013 win was a great one. He won it by seven strokes, ending a four-year winless drought from which he had been plagued with back injuries. That helped him reach a career-best world ranking (OWGR) of 29.

Besides these European Tour wins, he has won multiple events on the Sunshine Tour, the men’s professional tour in South Africa, recognized by the OWGR. Those include the Nashua Masters in 2005 and the Vodacom Championship in 2007 (both discontinued since 2010).

Richard Sterne has been on the European Tour since 2003, having completed 14 full Tour campaigns. His placings have helped him amass career earnings of €10,901,941.73. His biggest paycheck has come from his win at the Celtic Manor Wales Open, which got him a prize of €368,812.50. Not much information is available about his net worth, but it’s likely to be comfortably in the millions.

Richard Sterne’s family and kids

The 44-year-old has been married to Lisa-Marie Sterne since 2009; however, little is known about how they met. Her Facebook account indicates that she studied at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. They have two daughters, Mari and Annah Joy. Away from the golf course, Richard Sterne has a love of fishing.

Injuries have played spoilsport in the golfer’s journey, forcing him to skip full seasons to nurse his back injury. But he has always returned to fight back. In fact, it’s the adverse conditions that bring out Sterne’s formidable spirit, helping him to achieve success while others wither away.