Other than an approaching thunderstorm, defending champion Robin Williams had little to worry about in the final round of the Fortress Invitational at Glendower Golf Club on Sunday, cruising to a three-stroke victory as he shot a five-under 67 to finish on 22-under-par.
Williams showed great focus and composure with a classy round which was faultless until the last hole, when a sudden gust of wind just before the storm broke led to a bogey five. The 23-year-old had all but ensured victory, however, with his fifth birdie by the par-five 11th hole, and he added a sixth on the next par-five, the 17th. The big-hitting Williams once again took advantage of the par-fives, birdieing all four of them on Sunday.
“It means everything to defend such an unbelievable tournament. I just tried to focus on what worked last year and I didn’t think too much about the leaderboard. I set a target in my head and I knew if I got to 22-under then I would be difficult to catch. If someone did overtake me, then fair play to them,” Williams said.
“So I tried to get there as quickly as possible and then just hold on. I was a nervous wreck at the start, but I just kept telling myself that I was in the exact same position as last year and I just tried to build on those memories. I just had to grind and limit the bogeys, and I’m very proud I managed it even though it got very windy.
“It’s been an incredible year, I’m still trying to piece together what happened and my game is completely different to last year, I have improved so much. Hopefully I keep improving and can carry that through to a full schedule in Europe next year,” Williams said.
There was an air of inevitability about Williams’ triumph, even though Daniel van Tonder, who has twice come from behind to win this season, shot a 67 as well, birdieing the last two holes to finish on 19-under-par.
Yurav Premlall (68) and Keenan Davidse (70) shared third place on 15-under-par, while Jonathan Broomhead (68), Jovan Rebula (72) and Kyle Barker (72) were fifth on 13-under. Herman Loubser soared up the leaderboard into a share of eighth with his seven-under 65, joining Werner Deyzel (69) and Altin van der Merwe (74) on 12-under-par.
Rookie Van der Merwe was tied for second at the start of the final round, as was Kyle de Beer, whose challenge was ended by three successive bogeys from the third hole, as he shot a 75 to finish on 11-under-par.
SCORES:
266 - Robin Williams 64 65 70 67
269 - Daniel van Tonder 67 63 72 67
273 - Yurav Premlall 68 69 68 68, Keenan Davidse 66 68 69 70
275 - Jonathan Broomhead 73 67 67 68, Jovan Rebula 66 66 71 72, Kyle Barker 63 72 68 72
276 - Herman Loubser 67 74 70 65, Werner Deyzel 64 72 71 69, Altin van der Merwe 65 67 70 74
277 - Dylan Naidoo 71 72 67 67, Luke Brown 70 69 68 70, Kyle De Beer 66 70 66 75
278 - Ethan Smith 72 70 71 65, Robson Chinhoi 72 66 70 70
279 - Samuel Simpson 70 71 72 66, Pieter Moolman 67 67 71 74
280 - Estiaan Conradie 74 68 70 68, Malcolm Mitchell 72 71 69 68, Ockie Strydom 72 70 68 70, Christiaan Burke 68 72 69 71, Jean Hugo 65 71 71 73
281 - Jordan Burnand 69 69 76 67, Anthony Michael 72 70 70 69, Fredrik From 70 70 71 70, Tyran Snyders 69 71 70 71, Michael Hollick 67 70 72 72, Heinrich Bruiners 69 69 68 75
282 - Madalitso Muthiya 68 74 73 67, CJ du Plessis 71 68 73 70, Franklin Manchest 72 71 69 70, Jake Redman 69 70 71 72, Wynand Dingle 68 73 69 72, Jack Hawksby 70 65 73 74
283 - Nikhil Rama 66 74 70 73
284 - Otto Van Buynder 71 70 71 72, Craig Ross 70 70 70 74, David Amm 72 68 70 74, Joe Long 73 66 70 75, Kyle McClatchie 73 65 70 76
285 - Rourke van der Spuy 74 68 73 70, Rhys West 71 71 73 70, Neil Schietekat 70 69 75 71, Jacques Blaauw 73 68 73 71, Graham van der Merwe 72 69 73 71, Jean-Paul Strydom 72 70 72 71, Stephen Ferreira 71 72 71 71
286 - Jaco Van Zyl 70 69 76 71, Matthew Spacey 69 74 71 72, Austin Bautista 70 68 72 76
287 - Christiaan Basson 69 74 72 72, Jason Roets 73 69 72 73
288 - Kirby Coe-Kirkham 73 68 75 72, JJ Senekal 75 68 73 72, Keegan Mclachlan 66 76 73 73, Hennie Otto 69 74 71 74
289 - Lyle Rowe 70 71 77 71, LB Boshoff 70 69 77 73, Combrinck Smit 72 71 73 73
290 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 73 73 74
291 - Ruan Groenewald 70 73 72 76
292 - Andre De Decker 68 75 74 75, Stuart Krog 71 72 73 76
293 - Brandon Gildenhuys 65 74 76 78
296 - Adam Breen 72 70 77 77
297 - Makhetha Mazibuko 74 68 77 78
Missed the cut:-
144 - Gerhard Pepler 71 73, Ruan Conradie 74 70, Dylan Mostert 74 70, Brandon Meads 75 69, Hennie O'Kennedy 72 72, Keagan Thomas 74 70, Lyle Pedro 76 68, Therion Nel 75 69, Ruan de Smidt 74 70, Luke Jerling 69 75, Stals Swart 75 69, Stefan Wears-Taylor 71 73
145 - Shaahid Mahmed 71 74, Keelan van Wyk 73 72, Rupert Kaminski 73 72, Conner Mackenzie 69 76, Kayle Wykes 75 70, DK Kim 70 75, Toto Thimba Jnr 73 72, Jaco Prinsloo 73 72, Sean Bradley 73 72
146 - James Pennington 73 73, MJ Viljoen 69 77, Christopher Long 75 71, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 73 73, Ulrich van den Berg 76 70, Jacques P de Villiers 73 73, Albert Venter 72 74, Gary Kemp 73 73
147 - James Mack 73 74, Merrick Bremner 79 68, Jared Harvey 77 70, Promise Sombreiro 73 74, Damian da Silva 71 76, Tumelo Molloyi 76 71, Brandon Pieters 79 68, Jacob Oakley 73 74, Haydn Porteous 74 73, Gregory Mckay 72 75, Danie Van Niekerk 74 73, Slenda Sithebe 72 75, Ryan Van der Klis 69 78
148 - Jordan Duminy 76 72, Leon Vorster 78 70, Sean Cronje 78 70, Allister de Kock 74 74, Jabulane Mabilane 73 75, Simon du Plooy 71 77, Dayne Moore 72 76, Callum Mowat 75 73, Travis Ladner 73 75
149 - Nick Cunningham 73 76, Christian Kriek 76 73
150 - Hayden Griffiths 77 73, Doug McGuigan 75 75, Pierre Pellegrin 69 81, Ricky Hendler 79 71, Jastice Mashego 76 74, Gerard du Plooy 75 75
151 - Oliver Bekker 76 75, Quintin Wilsnach 77 74, Ronald Rugumayo 72 79
152 - Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 74 78, Tristin Galant 74 78, Andrew Williamson 76 76, Keith Horne 76 76
153 - Sentanio Minnie 79 74, Steven Le Roux 78 75, Terence Boardman 76 77, Bradford Vaughan 75 78, Khanya Mkhize 75 78, Vaughn van Deventer 76 77, Thabang Simon 76 77
154 - Umar Davids 76 78, Regan Steyn 78 76
155 - Shaydon Johnson 81 74, Pride Sembo 85 70, Mark Maart 73 82, Siyanda Mwandla 78 77
156 - Jared Burnard 77 79
157 - Basil Wright Jr 75 82, Richard Kruger 78 79, Thabiso Ngcobo 75 82
RTD - Irvin Mazibuko 77 RTD RTD, Ryan Tipping 71 RTD RTD, Alex Haindl 74 DSQ DSQ