Williams powers himself to the summit in Soweto

Robin Williams took full advantage of his length off the tee in the second round of the Altron Big Easy Tour event in Soweto and produced a fine four-under-par 68 which helped him to a one-shot lead on seven-under-par on Wednesday.

While Williams conceded that some pin positions were rather tricky at the Soweto Country Club on day two of this 54-hole tournament, he knew he still had enough ammunition in his arsenal to challenge for the top spot ahead of the final round.

“I played solidly today,” he said after his round, “but I thought today was a bit trickier than yesterday with the wind and some pins were in some ugly spots. But, I used my length off the tee very well today. This is not a very long course but it’s a bit fiddly because there are some holes where you can hit it on another fairway and get a better shot from there.

“I think this is more of a second shot golf course and you will have a lot of times where you have a lot of irons and wedges in and if you capitalise, then it just becomes a putting game.”

Birdie on the 18th by Robin Williams to take the lead with one round to go ??#AltronBigEasyTour pic.twitter.com/q1tYYLGSGM— Altron Big Easy Tour (@bigeasytourgolf) August 2, 2023

Williams, solid as he was, struggled to make birdies on the front nine; sinking two and making a single drop on that stretch. It was on the back nine that he found his rhythm.

Back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 were followed by another brace of birdies on the 14th and 15th holes before the Stellenbosch-born Williams closed off with another birdie for a bogey-free back nine of 32.

“This is my first time playing this course and I feel like I played much better on the back nine in both rounds so far,” Williams noted. “The front is a little bit trickier, I think. I definitely think the back nine here is the scoring nine. Tomorrow will be a new day and I want to keep playing the way I have played the first two days.”

Hot on his heels and just a shot adrift is Ricky Hendler thanks to a second successive 69 and a shot further lies the pair of Jordan Duminy and Zambia’s Dayne Moore. Duminy shot a 70 while Moore signed for a 68 for a tournament total of five under.

SECOND-ROUND SCORES:

137 - Robin Williams 69 68

138 - Ricky Hendler 69 69

139 - Dayne Moore 71 68, Jordan Duminy 69 70

140 - Werner Deyzel 68 72

142 - Ruan de Smidt 70 72

145 - Andrew McLardy 72 73, Otto Van Buynder 70 75, James Pennington 73 72, Caylum Boon 70 75, Callum Mowat 72 73, Slade Pickering 74 71, Keegan Mclachlan 77 68, Stals Swart 73 72

146 - Keagan Crosbie 73 73, Johan Theron 67 79, Carlos Laranja 70 76, Makhetha Mazibuko 75 71, Shaahid Mahmed 76 70, Gerard du Plooy 75 71, Sentanio Minnie 71 75, Karabo Mokoena 76 70, Andre De Decker 72 74

147 - Brandon Gildenhuys 71 76, Burt Gildenhuys 74 73, Basil Wright Jr 73 74, Christian Kriek 71 76, Kyle Lucas 74 73, Jason Froneman 72 75, Zabastian de Jager 75 72, Allister de Kock 75 72, Noel Anderson 75 72, Lyle Pedro 71 76

Missed the cut:

148 - Thabang Simon 73 75, Aneurin Gounden 76 72, Rigardt Albertse 73 75, Lwazi Gqira 74 74, LB Boshoff 73 75, John Bele 75 73, Henning du Plooy 79 69, Andre Van Dyk 76 72, Paul Boshoff 77 71, Ronald Rugumayo 75 73, Kyle De Beer 73 75, Jason Roets 73 75

149 - Samuel Simpson 75 74, Leon Vorster 74 75, Sipho Bujela 75 74, Franklin Manchest 75 74

150 - Ruan Groenewald 76 74, Travis Ladner 73 77, Dylan O'Leary 77 73, Brandon-Jude Rennie 80 70, Pierre Pellegrin 76 74, Matthew Rushton 74 76, Steven Le Roux 74 76, Mandla Dlamini Jnr 76 74, Mark Maart 75 75

151 - Wade Jacobs 78 73, Brandon Moodley 77 74, Coert Groenewald 76 75, Irvin Mazibuko 74 77, Harry Konig 78 73, Mutahi Kibugu 79 72, Francois Van der Walt 79 72, Adriel Poonan 75 76, Warwick Purchase 76 75

152 - Jaden Deltel 76 76, Philip Geerts 80 72, Thanda Mavundla 78 74, Jastice Mashego 77 75, Teboho Sefatsa 76 76, Siphiwe Siphayi 78 74, Christopher Long 76 76, Shalan Govender 79 73, Keelan Africa 79 73, Simon du Plooy 79 73

153 - Carlo Heunis 78 75

154 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 75 79, Luan Steenkamp 76 78, Therion Nel 75 79, TJ Sandys 79 75, Slenda Sithebe 76 78

155 - CJ Levey 74 81, Thabiso Ngcobo 78 77

156 - Evance Vukeya 77 79

157 - Shaheed Patel 75 82

158 - Ryan Tipping 79 79, Reece Mc Kain 76 82

159 - Tumelo Molloyi 81 78, Lincon Denzy Cele 80 79

160 - Umar Davids 81 79

162 - Sabelo Xolani Majola 81 81

163 - Omar Sandys 83 80

164 - Ricco Motsa 84 80

168 - Darren Slingers 85 83

170 - Llewellyn Leibrandt 86 84

171 - Gerard Moodley 87 84

RTD - Alphius Kelapile 79 RTD