Williams and dad drill a perfect start in Türkiye

Sometimes your father is your best go-to person for getting difficult things done, and that was the case for Robin Williams on Thursday as he fired an opening six-under-par 65 to share the first-round lead of the DP World Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open at Regnum Carya in Antalya, Türkiye.

Williams had missed nine cuts in 14 starts since his promotion to the DP World Tour and he had taken some time off before the two China events to work on technical issues with his father.

After his regular caddie had some visa issues, Williams roped in his dentist dad Morné to take the bag. And things got off to a great start in Türkiye.

The bogey-free start handed the two-time winner of the Fortress Invitational on the Sunshine Tour and the 2023-24 Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year a seat at the summit of the leaderboard with Frenchman Martin Couvra, and Germany’s Tiger Christensen.

Williams started on the back nine and racked up three birdies in a row from the 12th hole, before picking up another on the 18th to turn in four-under.

“Coming home on the back nine, it was so peaceful out there; it was like I was playing a practice round with me and my dad,” said Williams.

The South African had played 44 events last season, but it came at a cost.

“I had no time to work on my game, and I was not making cuts. So, my dad and I worked on some technical stuff, and it’s made all the difference to my game,” he said.

“It feels great to get off to a good start. I rolled in some really nice putts today and kept the momentum going. Kept myself feeling good. I played really solid, and it was bogey-free. I didn’t have any mistakes out there. I didn’t put myself out of position or anything, which is really easy to do on this course.”

FAST START

Williams was last off in the 156-man field, and knew the target that Couvra and Christensen had set.

“I thought I could chase those scores,” Williams. “Once you hit the fairways here, the greens are so good that it’s almost a putting competition after that. Teeing off last, there were some greens that weren’t in great shape, but I still putted really well today. The 11th is a tough start, especially with the tee shot, but after that you’ve got some scoreable holes with the par-five on 12, and 13, and 14 isn’t a difficult par-three with that flag,” he said.

The fast start was just what he needed after the start to his maiden season on the DP World Tour.

“It’s more a relief than anything,” he said of finally getting things right. “After missing so many cuts, it was nice to iron out the things I needed to and then carry that form into a tournament. But you don’t really know if it’s going to click until it happens. Today it did. It’s a relief to know that we’re heading in the right direction.”

It was the kind of start South African fans had become used to seeing Williams get, and it helped him to a one-stroke lead over Dutchman Joost Luiten and England’s Brandon Robinson Thompson.

CROWDED LEADERBOARD

There were four players in a share of sixth on four-under-par, and then Wilco Nienaber was in a share of 10th on three-under with 14 other players on a crowded leaderboard.

The South African made two bogeys on the front nine without dropping a shot, but he had bogeys on 10 and 16 to slow him down from the three birdies he made on his way home to his opening 68.

“I made some adjustments to my driver on Monday and it’s really nice to hit it long and straight again,” said the big-hitting Nienaber.

Ironically, it was his driver that got him into trouble when he dropped those two shots, as he found the water on the left on 10, and then hit it left again on the 16th.

“Both bogeys were the result of bad decisions, and I’ll own that. Overall, I’m really happy with the rest of the round and where my game is at. I’m long and I’m straight again. There’s very few holes when I don’t have wedges in my hands. If the putter gets warm, there’s no telling what can happen,” he said.

But there is a lot of daylight between Nienaber and the rest of the South African posse.

Casey Jarvis, Ryan van Velzen, Dylan Frittelli, Jacques Kruyswijk and Justin Harding finished in a share of 61st on level-par, Dylan Naidoo carded a one-over 72, Louis Albertse and Jayden Schaper are a further shot back on two-over and Ockie Strydom and Yurav Premlall were joint 121st on three-over.

Deon Germishuys opened with a four-over 75, Zander Lombard on five-over and Justin Walters brought up the rear on six-over 77.