Williams weathers the storm to keep Fortress Invitational lead

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.

DE BEER TIED FOR SECOND

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

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