South African golfer Richard Sterne’s winless drought has finally come to an end as he claimed a comprehensive seven shot margin of victory in this year’s Joburg Open.

Richard Sterne ended things off in style with a 64 to finish with a final score of a 27-under-par total of 260 to grab the win in the  €1.3-million Joburg Open at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club. The winning margin was the biggest in the history of the event and his score was the lowest 72-hole total too. An even crazier stat is that it’s the first time since Tiger won the 2002 WGC-CA Championship that a golfer has managed to finish with just a single bogey in an event.

He was thrilled with his victory in the Joburg Open. “That was probably the best final round of my career. It was quite special to finish the way I did,” said Sterne, who has battled injury and bad luck. He was edged out by Stephen Gallacher in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on the final day but after the way he has been playing of late, it has only been a matter of time before a win came his way.

It was a good weekend for South African golfers as Charl Schwartzel carded a final round 66 to finish in second place with a 20-under 267, seven shots behind Sterne. George Coetzee shot 67 in his final round and he shared third place with Portuguese golfer Ricardo Santos and Felipe Aguilar from Chile. Overnight joint leader Trevor Fisher Jnr could only manage 73 in his final round and it cost him as he slipped down the leaderboard to finish nine shots behind Sterne.

The win takes Richard Sterne to the top of the Race to Dubai as well as the top of the European Tour money list. He pockets €450,053 from the European Tour and sits at the top of the Sunshine Tour’s Order of Merit. His victory in the Joburg Open means he climbs to fourth place in the Race to the Investec Cup.

Joburg Open 2013 results
260 – Richard Sterne 63 65 68 64
267 – Charl Schwartzel 68 65 68 66
268 – Ricardo Santos (POR) 70 65 69 64, George Coetzee 67 64 70 67, Felipe Aguilar (CHL) 67 66 68 67
269 – Keith Horne 67 66 71 65, Thomas Aiken 67 70 66 66, Trevor Fisher Jnr 66 62 68 73
270 – Lorenzo Gagli (ITA) 67 68 68 67, Garth Mulroy 70 68 65 67
271 – Brandon Pieters 69 69 67 66, David Drysdale (SCO) 68 67 68 68, Jaco Van Zyl 66 68 67 70
272 – Bryce Easton 65 70 70 67, Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 68 66 69 69
273 – James Kingston 66 70 70 67, Justin Walters 71 67 67 68, Paul Waring (ENG) 71 67 67 68
274 – Tyrone Ferreira 66 70 71 67, Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG) 70 66 70 68, Hennie Otto 70 67 69 68, Lee Slattery (ENG) 67 72 67 68, Danie van Tonder 68 70 67 69, Peter Uihlein (USA) 65 69 68 72
275 – Tyrone Mordt 65 70 71 69, Darren Fichardt 67 69 70 69, Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 66 72 70 67, Robert-Jan Derksen (NED) 69 70 67 69
276 – Steve Webster (ENG) 71 67 69 69, Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 63 72 72 69, George Murray (SCO) 71 66 69 70, Jacques Blaauw 70 67 71 68, James Kamte 70 67 68 71
277 – Allan Versfeld 66 73 69 69, Jake Redman 66 71 72 68, Bjorn Akesson (SWE) 69 67 73 68, Dean Burmester 67 68 69 73
278 – Richard Finch (ENG) 67 68 71 72, Jose Manuel Lara (ESP) 69 65 73 71, Oliver Fisher (ENG) 68 68 70 72, Jaco Ahlers 71 68 69 70, Justin Harding 69 70 70 69, Tjaart van der Walt 67 69 69 73, Tom Lewis (ENG) 72 65 67 74, David Horsey (ENG) 66 72 72 68, Lasse Jensen(DEN) 68 70 73 67
279 – MJ Daffue 65 70 71 73, PH McIntyre 72 67 72 68, Jbe’ Kruger 68 70 74 67
280 – Phillip Price (WAL) 68 71 69 72, Espen Kofstad (NOR) 66 71 72 71, Alexandre Kaleka (FRA) 66 73 71 70, Scott Henry (SCO) 69 70 71 70, Merrick Bremner 68 69 73 70
281 – Ulrich van den Berg 71 68 68 74, Gary Boyd (ENG) 67 71 69 74, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 67 70 70 74, Joakim Lagergren (SWE) 65 71 73 72, Peter Hedblom (SWE) 72 67 72 70
282 – Bradford Vaughan 69 70 71 72, Andy Sullivan (ENG) 68 70 72 72, Graeme Storm (ENG) 76 62 73 71
283 – Ockie Strydom 66 71 73 73, Gregory Havret (FRA) 70 69 74 70
284 – Alessandro Tadini (ITA) 67 71 69 77, Oliver Bekker 68 68 73 75, Gary Lockerbie (ENG) 70 69 75 70
288 – Michael Hollick 70 69 71 78