Defending champion Robin Williams collected two eagles on Saturday, the first of them a pivotal moment as he came back from a tough start, on his way to a two-under-par 70 which stretched his lead to three strokes after the third round of the Fortress Invitational at Glendower Golf Club.
Williams began the day with a one-stroke lead but he quickly fell from his pedestal after a double-bogey six and a bogey five on the first two holes. But he fought back superbly, holing a great eagle putt on the 500-metre par-five sixth. A birdie on the par-four seventh meant he was back on par and another eagle, on the 509-metre par-five 11th, put him back on the top of the leaderboard. A massive drive, 350 metres into the wind, was followed by a mediocre approach but Williams then chipped in his third. After that he parred his way home.
“I really wasn’t good this morning and got off to a really bad start. It was chaos, a super-scrappy first two holes and then I had to make a six-footer for par on the third. But I said to my cousin (caddie Damian Williams) that we had been in this situation lots of times before and we just needed to keep our heads down and weather the storm. We just had to keep it together and try and get the pars going,” Williams said.
“The eagle on six was massive. It was a 25-foot big, old, swinging putt and I needed that kickstart after the rough beginning. If you had told me on the third tee that I would finish level-par after the front nine, I would have jumped on it. I’m very happy with the turnaround and I’ve put myself in a position to win.
“I surprised myself with how far my drive went on 11, maybe it hit a sprinklerhead. I was disappointed with my second because it was such a massive drive and I had only a nine-iron in. Fortunately the ball was sitting up though and I just tried to get the chip close, luckily it went in. It’s been so hot and it’s at altitude, so I really wanted to take advantage of the par-fives. I treated them as par-fours and if I can do the same tomorrow then I’ll be in good shape.
“But there is still a lot of golf out there tomorrow, lots of guys trying to hunt me down. I was in a similar position last year and I know it’s going to be nervous, stressful and not fun. But I’ll just try and enjoy it and play with a smile on my face. I’ve already done myself proud,” Williams said.
Kyle de Beer, the leader on the Fortress Rookie of the Year standings, had his fill of birdies on the back nine as he came home in 31 to sign for a 66 and tied-second on 14-under-par.
Altin van der Merwe is third on the Fortress Rookie of the Year standings and he joined De Beer in second after making birdie on the 18th for a two-under 70.
Daniel van Tonder was one behind Williams at the start of the third round but he had trouble with the fourth and fifth holes, making bogey at both. He made birdies at the sixth and 17th holes, finishing level-par and staying second on 14-under.
First round leader Kyle Barker (68), Keenan Davidse (69) and Jovan Rebula (71) will tee it off on Sunday on 13-under-par, four behind Williams, who will bid to become the first golfer to defend a title on the Sunshine Tour since George Coetzee successfully defended the Vodacom Origins of Golf De Zalze in August 2022.
Scores
199 - Robin Williams 64 65 70
202 - Kyle De Beer 66 70 66, Altin van der Merwe 65 67 70, Daniel van Tonder 67 63 72
203 - Kyle Barker 63 72 68, Keenan Davidse 66 68 69, Jovan Rebula 66 66 71
205 - Yurav Premlall 68 69 68, Pieter Moolman 67 67 71
206 - Heinrich Bruiners 69 69 68
207 - Jonathan Broomhead 73 67 67, Luke Brown 70 69 68, Jean Hugo 65 71 71, Werner Deyzel 64 72 71
208 - Robson Chinhoi 72 66 70, Kyle McClatchie 73 65 70, Jack Hawksby 70 65 73
209 - Christiaan Burke 68 72 69, Joe Long 73 66 70, Michael Hollick 67 70 72
210 - Dylan Naidoo 71 72 67, Ockie Strydom 72 70 68, Wynand Dingle 68 73 69, David Amm 72 68 70, Tyran Snyders 69 71 70, Craig Ross 70 70 70, Nikhil Rama 66 74 70, Jake Redman 69 70 71, Austin Bautista 70 68 72
211 - Herman Loubser 67 74 70, Fredrik From 70 70 71
212 - Malcolm Mitchell 72 71 69, Franklin Manchest 72 71 69, Anthony Michael 72 70 70, Estiaan Conradie 74 68 70, Otto Van Buynder 71 70 71, CJ du Plessis 71 68 73
213 - Ethan Smith 72 70 71, Samuel Simpson 70 71 72
214 - Hennie Otto 69 74 71, Stephen Ferreira 71 72 71, Matthew Spacey 69 74 71, Jason Roets 73 69 72, Jean-Paul Strydom 72 70 72, Graham van der Merwe 72 69 73, Jacques Blaauw 73 68 73, Neil Schietekat 70 69 75, Jordan Burnand 69 69 76
215 - Ruan Groenewald 70 73 72, Christiaan Basson 69 74 72, Madalitso Muthiya 68 74 73, Rhys West 71 71 73, Rourke van der Spuy 74 68 73, Keegan Mclachlan 66 76 73, Jaco Van Zyl 70 69 76, Brandon Gildenhuys 65 74 76
216 - JJ Senekal 75 68 73, Combrinck Smit 72 71 73, Stuart Krog 71 72 73, Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 73 73, Kirby Coe-Kirkham 73 68 75, LB Boshoff 70 69 77
217 - Andre De Decker 68 75 74
218 - Lyle Rowe 70 71 77
219 - Makhetha Mazibuko 74 68 77, Adam Breen 72 70 77
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