Ken Borland

EDENVALE (Gauteng) – Defending champion Robin Williams said an outstanding start and playing in the same three-ball as a charging Danie van Tonder were pivotal to his 65 on Friday, which gave him the lead after the second round of the Fortress Invitational at Glendower Golf Club.

Williams backed up his excellent 64 on the first day with a seven-under-par round that lifted him to 15-under-par at the halfway stage of the R2 million event, with Van Tonder firing a fabulous nine-under 63 on Friday to sit just one stroke behind on 14-under-par.

Altin van der Merwe (67) and Jovan Rebula (66) are a further two strokes behind, while first-round leader Kyle Barker is on nine-under, six behind, after a level-par 72 on Friday.

Williams notched three birdies in the first four holes, and reached the turn in five-under, but as most of the field found, the back nine was more testing and he came home in two-under, including a bogey at the par-three 12^th.

Van Tonder was the exception as he birdied the 10^th, 11^th and 14^th holes and then eagled the 477m, par-five 17^th to come home in 31.

“I had a good start and that set the tone for the whole round, I just had to keep the momentum going,” Williams said. “I’m very happy, you’re always pleased when you put yourself in position to win. I’ve gone above my expectations already, it’s my first title defence ever and there was quite a lot of pressure.

“But my favourite part of today was playing with Danie, we fed off each other. He played seriously good golf today and I’m looking forward to us pushing each other, bringing out the best in each other, over the weekend. It was great fun with him today and there was a stretch where he just could not stop getting birdies and I was just trying to keep up with him,” Williams said.

Because of the exciting promise he has shown and his success in the last year, Williams has had to mature quickly under the weight of attention. Especially after his sensational fourth-place finish in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

“It’s been tough handling all the external stuff, but I’m kinda learning how to handle it day in, day night. When I put my South African SIM card back in my phone, the number of messages waiting for me after the Dunhill was hectic.

“But I’m going to have to get used to it and learn to enjoy it. I still want to get my story out there as much as possible,” the 23-year-old Williams said.

Van der Merwe is 27 years old and only turned pro this year, but he showed why his amateur record was so good as he recovered from back-to-back bogeys on the third and fourth holes by collecting four birdies in the next five holes.

Rebula’s 66 included just one bogey and an eagle on the par-five 11^th.

EDENVALE (Gauteng) – Kyle Barker has been trying to massage his game in preparation for DP World Tour Qualifying School at the end of this month in Spain, and the 26-year-old fired an exceptional 63 in the opening round of the Fortress Invitational at Glendower Golf Club on Thursday to fill him with confidence.

The Serengeti Estates golfer enjoys a one-stroke lead in the R2 million event, after Werner Deyzel and defending champion Robin Williams pushed him hard with 64s.

Barker’s nine-under-par score, which was also bogey-free, was his best round of the season and it seems he could be peaking at the right time after a solid, but unspectacular start to the campaign sees him sitting in 18^th position on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.

“I had a great first couple of months but then things just slowed down. I was struggling a bit with my game and the set-up in my bag. But now I’ve found a really nice putter that is rolling the ball fantastically.

“This is my last event before going to DP World Tour Qualifying School and I really enjoyed the day. I was hitting the ball really nicely on the range in my warm-up and I just wanted to keep that feeling going, so birdies on the first two holes was a great way to start. I didn’t know that I was going to make only 26 putts though!

“The greens were very receptive after rain on Tuesday night, long-irons were pretty much stopping where they landed and wayward tee-shots would not bounce into too much trouble under trees. So I could be quite aggressive, but the back nine was a bit tougher because the wind picked up,” Barker said.

The highlight of a round that was just the right therapy for Barker was his eagle on the par-five 11^th.

“I smashed a drive down the middle and I had 196m to the front left, but the wind was slightly in my face, about seven or eight metres. So I hit a 205 shot with a six-iron, it was a bit long, in the middle of the green, but I had a downhill, 30ft putt which straight in the middle of the hole, which was really cool,” Barker explained.

Deyzel and Williams also had eagles in the first round, both of them on the 500m par-five sixth. Williams hit a brilliant seven-iron from 165 metres to three feet, which put him level with Barker on nine-under-par, but he bogeyed the par-three eighth, his penultimate hole.

Williams continued the momentum from his brilliant fourth-place finish in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship earlier this month and he was satisfied that he had positioned himself well in his first defence of a title in his professional career.

“It’s been really cool today, it’s the first time I’ve defended and I’m just remembering all the good memories from last year. It all kicked off for me here last year. Playing in Europe was good, but it is so tough there because everything is so different.

“My game was really good today, everything was solid, just a bit of a mistake on eight. But I kept the ball on the fairways. It’s just a course I really enjoy, the par-fives are not that long, so I picture them as par-fours and try to be more aggressive, as long as you find the fairway. I drove well and was able to take advantage of the par-fives.

“I will definitely take that first round, I just want to put myself in position to defend on the back nine on Sunday,” Williams said.

BENONI, Gauteng – We will have to wait a little longer for Jayden Schaper’s maiden professional win, but Pieter Moolman was a worthy winner of the Fortress Invitational at Ebotse Links on Sunday as he pipped the highly-rated former junior star in a playoff.

Moolman certainly did the hard yards for his maiden Sunshine Tour title, starting the final round three shots behind Schaper. And as he reached the final hole in regulation play, he was three-under for his round, having mixed five birdies with two bogeys, and looked like falling just short on 12-under-par as Schaper was already on 14-under-par.

But the 31-year-old Moolman hit an excellent drive and a superb approach shot on the par-five 18^th to 10 feet from the hole, and nailed the eagle putt to vault to 14-under.

Schaper then bogeyed the par-four 17^th but made birdie at the last to force a playoff with an excellent up-and-down after short-siding himself.

Moolman again hit a brilliant second in the playoff, finishing just off the green after being in the semi-rough on a mound. He would chip and sink a four-foot putt for birdie, while Schaper was unfortunate that his approach shot, which looked really good in the air, took a hard first bounce and ran through the green. The 21-year-old then could not quite sink a 10-footer for birdie, handing Moolman the win.

“I’ve lost a few times in these situations, but I’ve played better golf a few times than I did today,” Moolman said. “So to get over the line is really special and it shows that it does not take a perfect performance to win.

“It’s more mental, about believing you can still put a score on the board if you’re playing average golf, when your swing is not really there. I just had to stay in the moment and commit to what I was doing, take it shot-for-shot.”

Schaper will look back on a level-par back nine, which featured bogeys at the par-three 11^th and the penultimate hole, as having cost him, but he showed tremendous determination and character in birdieing the last hole to get into the playoff, from which point it all becomes a bit of a lottery.

For Moolman, who like Schaper is based in Benoni and knows the Ebotse Links well, the win will give him great confidence heading into the big summer events. He has finished runner-up twice before this year, including at the Tour Championship at nearby Serengeti Estate.

“I’ve been playing solid golf for a while and I played solid enough the whole week, I was just trying to give myself opportunities, keep the ball in play and give myself a chance,” Moolman said.

“Finishing second at the Wild Coast a few weeks back, I made some mistakes down the back nine, but I learnt from that and how to stay strong.

“Now that I’ve won, you start believing you can win again and that you belong here. I’m looking forward to the summer events,” Moolman said.

Although he finished fourth, two shots off the pace, Sean Bradley will remember the final round for a long time as he began with a double-bogey at the first hole, but then made a hole-in-one at the par-three eighth. He then rounded off his round with a massive eagle putt, from off the green, on the last hole, finishing with a 63 that put him right into contention.

American Dan Erickson claimed third place on 13-under, signing for a 67 after he could only make par on the last three holes.

BENONI, Gauteng – Jayden Schaper enjoyed a three-shot lead, but Makhetha Mazibuko was building a strong challenge, when dangerous weather caused the second round of the Fortress Invitational at Ebotse Links to be suspended on Saturday afternoon.

Schaper, who was in a three-way tie for the lead after a first-round 65, separated himself on Saturday with another fine round, a five-under-par 67 lifting him to 12-under for the tournament, going into Sunday’s final round.

Two birdies and a bogey on the front nine saw Schaper reach the turn just one-under, but he blossomed on the back nine with four birdies to pull away from the field.

“I had a steady start, I was hitting the ball well and I just left a couple of putts in the jaws of the hole. But I just stayed patient and it was pretty much another solid all-round game. It was more difficult today, the wind was up and that makes the course a lot tougher,” Schaper said.

But Mazibuko is on nine-under-par, tied in second place with Richard Joubert (69), and he still has six holes to play when the second round resumes at 7am on Sunday.

The 34-year-old from Bloemfontein Golf Club is three-under for his round, all three birdies coming on the front nine.

Schaper will be chasing his first Sunshine Tour title on Sunday, with the final round being played to a two-tee, three-ball format. The 21-year-old enjoyed a prolific amateur career and it will be remembered that he was touted as South African golf’s next big thing when he finished second in the 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.

“I guess there will be some added pressure, but I’ll be saying to myself that there is no difference between a Sunshine Tour event or an amateur tournament. It’s the same as any round of golf.

“Playing at my home course at Ebotse will also keep me calm because I know the course well. I’m looking forward to it, I’m going to enjoy it and if it’s my day then I’ll take it,” Schaper said.

The other first-round leaders went backwards on the second day, with Ockie Strydom shooting a level-par 72 and staying on seven-under, which is now in a tie for fifth, while Clinton Grobler is four-over-par through 12 holes, having double-bogeyed his last two holes to be nine shots off the pace.