Stephen had much success early in his career, winning the South Australian Open at the age of 24.
There were high expectations for him though he did not always meet them, recording at least seven runner-up finishes during the remainder of the 1980s but rarely winning.
[5] He did not play as well on Friday but managed to make a four-metre birdie putt on the final hole for a 72 (+1) to maintain possession of the lead.
[8] In September, this good play culminated with a high result at the New South Wales PGA Championship.
[13] On Sunday, he played poorly early but birdied the 9th hole and "tightened his game" after the turn.
Stephen started the final round well behind leader Bill Rogers and second place holder Peter Senior.
[17] In August and early September 1982, despite "restricted tournament play," he recorded three runner-up finishes in his home state of Western Australia.
[20] On Sunday, he played well on the front nine to stay close to leaders Grady and Frank Nobilo.
On the back nine, Stephen again caught fire, birdieing four of six holes starting on the 11th, to tie Nobilo for the lead.
[10] In late 1982 and early 1983, by virtue of these good performances, Stephen was often considered the favorites among newspaper writers at tournaments, especially in Asia.
[29] For the remainder of the season, Stephen made the cut in four of his final five events but did not record anything better than a tie for 24th.
At the end of the tournament, however, Gale was notified that he incurred a two-stroke penalty earlier on the front nine that he was not aware of at the time.
[29] In addition to the good placing, Stephen had a chance to qualify for the 1986 Open Championship at the tournament.
[33] By virtue of his high finish, Stephen entered a playoff with three other players to see who was allocated the final spot.
[39] Roughly two weeks later, he played at the Victorian PGA Championship pro-am, tying Ossie Moore for the victory after a 63 (−9).
However, his comeback ended when his approach on the par-4 14th sailed into a limestone quarry leading to triple bogey.
[48] In February 1988, Stephen recorded a solo fourth place finish at the Victorian Open.
[29] For the remainder of the European season, however, Stephen did not play much better, missing the cut or withdrawing from six of his final seven events.
He opened with a 64 (−7) breaking the old course record at Concord Golf Club by two shots, tying Craig Parry for the lead.
[63] For the remainder of the year, Stephen showed mixed form, making the cut in five of his final nine European Tour events with two top-25s and no top-10s.
In January, at the Heineken Classic, he shot consecutive rounds of 68 (−4) to tie Peter Senior for the lead.
[70] In November, he played well at the Australian Open finishing in a tie for ninth with, among others, Curtis Strange and Robert Allenby.
[71] At the 1994 Reebok Australian PGA Championship, he shot the round of the day on Saturday, a 67 (−5), to jump ahead of 36 players and move into a tie for fourth.
At the par-5 final hole joint leader Craig Spence missed a three-metre birdie putt to win the tournament outright.
[79] The following season, at the beginning of 1997, he recorded a tie for eleventh at the Australian Masters, one behind Tiger Woods.
He had much success early in the season with several top fives but struggled coming down the stretch, failing to win.
However, on the 16th hole Cambridge hit "an uncustomary wayward drive" that led to triple bogey.
On the next hole Stephen hit his birdie putt three-feet past but managed a "tense par."
Stephen "appeared to be stymied by a group of tall trees" but managed to get his approach on the green.
Stephen had an uphill 18-foot putt which he hit with "perfect pace" and "never looked like missing.” His birdie won the championship.