Former South African golf champion Richard Sterne, out of the game for nearly four months because of injury, has drawn inspiration for a comeback from his friend Louis Oosthuizen.

Sterne, a former SA Open champion and five-times European Tour winner, is suffering from bulging discs in his spine, which have brought his promising golf career to a shuddering halt.

But, after seeing his close friend Oosthuizen win the British Open at StAndrew's on Sunday, the 28-year-old Sterne has a renewed determination to recover from his injuries and fulfil his undoubted promise.

"I've been injured for four months and I had tears in my eyes watching Louis win," Sterne told The Times. "I'm not jealous of his success at all but it's made me believe that I can also do it and it's given me more drive to overcome my injury.

"It's nice to see that someone I've played against, and someone I've finished ahead of most of the time, can win a major because that gives me confidence."

Sterne is one of many young South African golfers ready to take the world by storm. He is part of a close-knit group that includes Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Anton Haig and Thomas Aiken, who regularly dine out together when their schedules overlap.

Sterne's best finish at a major is 34th at last year's British Open, but he's one of only four players under the age of 30 who have five wins or more on the European Tour - the others are Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott and compatriot Charl Schwartzel.

At the end of 2008, Sterne won the SA Open and the Alfred Dunhill Championship in the space of a week, but his two-year exemption for winning those events expires at the end of the year.

Sterne is unconcerned, though, and believes he'll receive a full medical exemption for 2011, allowing him to keep his playing privileges next year.

"I'm starting to see some improvement with my injuries and I'm hoping that I'll be able to play some tournaments in October and get ready for next season.

"It wasn't one moment that set the injury off but an accumulation of years of playing golf and sport in general."