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.
It was a bogey-free start for the two-time winner of the Fortress Invitational on the Sunshine Tour and the 2023-24 Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year. He sat at the summit of the leaderboard together with Martin Couvra of France, the winner of the 2023 South African Stroke Play Championship and Germany’s Tiger Christensen.
“I played some amateur golf with Tiger,” said Williams, whose second name is Tiger, “and I think it’s really cool that there are some Tigers on leaderboards out here.”
With his father Morne on his bag after his regular caddie had some visa issues, things got off to a great start for Williams in Türkiye after he had missed nine cuts in 14 starts since his promotion to the DP World Tour.
He 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. “On the back nine, it’s so peaceful out there, it was like I was playing a practice round with me and my dad,” said Williams.
“It was good to get off to a good start. I haven’t started that well this year, so it’s good to get going and use that momentum. I made some really nice putts today which kept that momentum and kept me feeling good. It was great today. I played really solid. It was bogey-free and 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.”
Williams was last off in the 156-man field, and he knew what Couvra and Christensen had posted. “I did think that I could chase the scores that were set this morning,” said 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 putted really well today.”
The fast start was just what he needed after the start to his maiden season on the DP World Tour. “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.
“It’s more a relief than anything,” he said of finally getting things right. “I didn’t get off to a great start and missed a lot of cuts. I really struggled with my game. But the three weeks I took off after Singapore, I worked on a few things with my dad that I didn’t really get time to in the off-season. 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, and then 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 after the first round over Dutchman Joost Luiten and England’s Brandon Robinson Thompson.
There were four players in a share of sixth on four-under-par, and then South Africa’s Wilco Nienaber was in a share of 10th on three-under with 14 other players on a crowded leaderboard. Nienaber 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,” said the big-hitting Nienaber, “and it’s really nice to hit it long and straight.” 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. “But once I’m long and straight, there’s very few holes when I don’t have wedges in my hands,” he said.
Behind him, in a share of 61st on level-par were Jacques Kruyswijk, Dylan Frittelli, Ryan van Velzen, Casey Jarvis and Justin Harding.
Dylan Naidoo was on one-over, Louis Albertse on two-over with Jayden Schaper, and Ockie Strydom and Yurav Premlall were on three-over.
Deon Germishuys was on four-over, with Zander Lombard on five-over and Justin Walters on six-over.
