By Michael Vlismas
For years Richard Sterne never stopped fighting against injury as he tried to reclaim the form that once saw him ranked 29th in the world. On Sunday, with a finish of tied third in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the South African finally felt like he had turned a major corner in his career.
Sterne went into the third and final round of a tournament shorted to 54 holes because of the weather as the joint leader with Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.
MacIntyre went on to claim the title on 18-under-par with a closing 66 on the Old Course and winning by four strokes in a fairytale finish in front of his home crowd and only a few days after helping Europe to a rare away victory in the Ryder Cup.
But there were plenty of positives for Sterne as he signed for a 71 on Carnoustie to share third place with England’s John Parry on 13-under-par.
A golfer who at so many times in the last few years was at his wits’ end as to how to overcome a debilitating hip injury before he finally found a solution looked this week like the golfer who won six times in nine years on the DP World Tour.
“The golf has been trending in the right direction for me,” said Sterne. “It’s great to get a good finish at an event like this because I really needed it.
“I’ve put in a lot of work to get to where I am and I’m starting to enjoy the game a lot more as well.
“There is still more work to do, but I’m enjoying it and looking forward to the fact that at least I’ve got my DP World Tour card after being under all that pressure.”
Fellow South African Louis Oosthuizen finished tied 11th on 11-under-par following his closing round of 72 on the Old Course, while Herman Loubser and Zander Lombard both ended their weeks on nine-under-par and in a share of 21st place.
Lombard returned to competitive golf in February this year following a near 10-month layoff after a knee injury and surgery, and going into this tournament said he’s starting to feel as if his game is coming together at the right time.
“I’ve felt like I’ve been playing well and just not scoring. It seems like it’s all coming together at the right time now towards the end of the year and with some big tournaments to come.”
