Ken Borland

EDENVALE (Gauteng) – Defending champion Robin Williams collected two eagles on Saturday, the first of them a pivotal moment as he came back from a horror 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 500m par-five sixth. A birdie on the par-four seventh meant he was back on par, and another eagle, on the 509m par-five 11^th, 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 [caddy 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 25ft 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.

Kyle de Beer, the leader of 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 18^th for a two-under 70.

Daniel van Tonder was one behind Williams at the start of the third round, but he had a tiff with the fourth and fifth holes, making bogey at both. He made birdies at the sixth and 17^th 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 JC Ritchie when he defended his Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open crown in 2022.

HARARE – Martin Vorster was on a rock-solid two-under-par for his round after his first seven holes on Friday, but a raucous run around the turn in which he picked up four birdies and then an eagle helped catapult him to the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the FBC Zim Open at Royal Harare Golf Club.

The Mossel Bay representative began his round on the 10^th hole and made another eagle on the par-five sixth hole before parring his way in for a phenomenal 62, his best ever round in his 52^nd Sunshine Tour event. That lifted Vorster to 12-under-par at the halfway mark of the R2.5 million event, one stroke ahead of Darren Fichardt (66) and Michael Hollick (67).

Vorster responded in style to a grungy first round that included four bogeys to offset six birdies. On Friday he made birdies at the 10^th, 12^th and 14^th holes, before his only dropped shot, a four at the par-three 15^th. But the 22-year-old then made sweet music with four straight birdies at 17, 18, one and two, before his eagle at the 475m par-three third.

Veteran Fichardt sounded a warning in the morning about his challenge, firing a six-under 66 that included eight birdies, being joined on 11-under-par by Hollick, who posted a 67 that included a good little run of his own when he birdied four successive holes from the fifth to the eighth.

Anthony Michael also shot a 67 to lie fourth on 10-under-par, while first-round leader Jaco Ahlers slipped back a bit with a 71 that left him on eight-under.

Kieran Vincent was the leading Zimbabwean as his 67 lifted him to six-under-par, alongside South Africans JC Ritchie (69) and Combrinck Smit (70) in the tie for sixth.