RICHARD STERNE WINS JOBURG OPEN BY SEVEN STROKES

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Richard Sterne put his injury nightmare firmly behind him by cruising effortlessly to a first European Tour title in just over four years at the Joburg Open.
Ranked 29th in the world following successive victories on home soil in December 2008, Sterne, picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c), subsequently slipped out of the top 1000 after missing much of the 2010 and 2011 campaigns due to a form of arthritis in his back.
However, if the prospect of returning to the winners circle daunted the 31 year old, who led at the halfway stage in last week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic before finishing second to Stephen Gallacher, it did not show today as he surged clear of fellow overnight leader Trevor Fisher Junior.
The latter eagled the first to reach 21 under but subsequently faltered while Sterne - champion here five years ago - made serene progress, carding a quintet of birdies in an outward nine of 32 that gave him a five stroke cushion at the summit.
Sterne was untroubled thereafter and picked up three further shots en route to a wonderful closing 64 at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC.
At 27 under, he finished seven ahead of Charl Schwartzel, the only other player to win the Joburg Open on two occasions.
Schwartzel’s 66 left him one better off than Ricardo Santos, who matched the victor’s final round 64, Felipe Aguilar and George Coetzee.
Keith Horne, Thomas Aiken and Fisher Junior can look back on good weeks after ending the tournament on 18 under, yet they were all left trailing by the immaculate Sterne, who now leads the Race To Dubai.
“It was a pretty special day,” said Sterne upon receiving his trophy. “I played really good golf today and the whole week really.
“It’s quite tough coming from a good week into another week; you kind of do expect to play well. But I got off to such a good start on the West Course (which he played in round one before switching to the East Course for the remainder of the week) and felt comfortable.
“Having won here before I do enjoy the place and that’s why I keep coming back.”
Sterne will climb into the top 60 when the Official World Golf rankings are updated on Monday, but is determined not to rest on his laurels.
The leading 50 players qualify automatically for Major Championships - a huge incentive for a player seemingly back to his best.
“I’d like to get back into all the Majors - that’s where I want to be playing,” Sterne added.
“It’s a big year. I’ve got off to such a nice start so hopefully I can keep it going.”
SCOTSWATCH
David Drysdale broke 70 with every round in finishing T11 and earning 21,797 Euros. His scores were 68, 67, 68 and 68 for 16-under-par 271, 11 shots behind winner Sterne.
George Murray finished T29 on 280 (69-70-71-70) and earned 5,590 Euros.
Scott Henry earned 1,590 Euros for a T50 finish with scores of 69, 70, 71 and 70 for 280.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 287 (3x72, 1x71)

260 R Sterne  (RSA) 63 65 68 64

267 C Schwartzel  (RSA) 68 65 68 66

268 R Santos  (Por) 70 65 69 64; F Aguilar (Chi) 67 66 68 67; G Coetzee (RSA) 67 64 70 67

269 K Horne (RSA) 67 66 71 65; T Aiken (RSA) 67 70 66 66; T Fisher junior (RSA) 66 62 68 73

270 G Mulroy (RSA) 70 68 65 67; L Gagli  (Ita) 67 68 68 67

271 B Pieters (RSA) 69 69 67 66; D Drysdale (Sco) 68 67 68 68; J Van Zyl (RSA) 66 68 67 70

272 B Easton (RSA) 65 70 70 67; T Fleetwood  (Eng) 68 66 69 69

273 J Kingston (RSA) 66 70 70 67; J Walters (RSA) 71 67 67 68; P Waring  (Eng) 71 67 67 68

274 T Ferreira  (RSA) 66 70 71 67; L Slattery (Eng) 67 72 67 68; H Otto (RSA) 70 67 69 68; R Gonzalez (Arg) 70 66 70 68; D Van Tonder  (RSA) 68 70 67 69; P Uihlein  (USA) 65 69 68 72

275 A Da Silva (Bra) 66 72 70 67; R Derksen (Ned) 69 70 67 69; D Fichardt (RSA) 67 69 70 69; T Mordt  (RSA) 65 70 71 69

276 J Blaauw  (RSA) 70 67 71 68; S Webster (Eng) 71 67 69 69; M Kieffer (Ger) 63 72 72 69; G Murray  (Sco) 71 66 69 70; J Kamte (RSA) 70 67 68 71

277 J Redman  (RSA) 66 71 72 68; B Åkesson (Swe) 69 67 73 68; A Versfeld (RSA) 66 73 69 69; D Burmester (RSA) 67 68 69 73;

278 L Jensen (Den) 68 70 73 67; D Horsey (Eng) 66 72 72 68; J Harding  (RSA) 69 70 70 69; J Ahlers (RSA) 71 68 69 70; J Lara (Esp) 69 65 73 71; O Fisher  (Eng) 68 68 70 72; R Finch  (Eng) 67 68 71 72; T Van Der Walt (RSA) 67 69 69 73; T Lewis (Eng) 72 65 67 74

279 J Kruger (RSA) 68 70 74 67; P McIntyre (RSA) 72 67 72 68; M Daffue (RSA) 65 70 71 73

280 S Henry  (Sco) 69 70 71 70; A Kaleka  (Fra) 66 73 71 70; M Bremner (RSA) 68 69 73 70; E Kofstad (Nor) 66 71 72 71; P Price (Wal) 68 71 69 72

281 P Hedblom (Swe) 72 67 72 70; J Lagergren (Swe) 65 71 73 72; U Van Den Berg  (RSA) 71 68 68 74; G Boyd  (Eng) 67 71 69 74; R Cairns (Zim) 67 70 70 74

282 G Storm  (Eng) 76 62 73 71; B Vaughan (RSA) 69 70 71 72; A Sullivan (Eng) 68 70 72 72

283 G Havret  (Fra) 70 69 74 70; O Strydom (RSA) 66 71 73 73

284 G Lockerbie  (Eng) 70 69 75 70; O Bekker (RSA) 68 68 73 75; A Tadini (Ita) 67 71 69 77

288 M Hollick (RSA) 70 69 71 78

290 J Cunliffe (RSA) 67 70 82 71