MARK WILLIAMS LEADS CAPE TOWN OPEN BY FIVE SHOTS

FROM THE SUNSHINE TOUR WEBSITE
On his second loop today Mark Williams made eight birdies and one drop for a 29-stroke back nine at Royal Cape Golf Club. He’ll take a five-stroke lead into the weekend at the Lion of Africa Cape Town Open.
“I hit a good tee shot on 10 and had my stock-standard wedge coming in, the same shot I had yesterday, and I hit it to four feet and made the putt. It just gave me that feeling and then I started hitting it close. I had control over the golf ball, made a couple of really good putts and just enjoyed the ride,” he said.
Williams shot a seven-under-par back nine and went on to sign for 67 with only five pars on the card. He’ll lead going into the weekend for the first time in his career, but victory was not yet in his thoughts.
“It feels great to lead and I think I’ve got a pretty good game plan. There’s opportunities to take driver on, but you have respect a lot of the par-fives, and it’s tough to get it close for two. You’ve got to take your chances when you can get them,” he said. 
The 28-year-old turned at two-over and looked as if he would let his overnight lead slip, but that wasn’t how things played out. He was focused on enjoying keeping his head clear for each shot.
“I enjoy playing in the wind, it kind of keeps me in the present. The most important thing is getting the ball in play and then hitting the next one. On the less windy courses I don’t seem to focus on one shot at a time, so the wind seems to help me,” said the Modderfontein Golf Club professional.
Saturday is moving day, but not for Williams, who’ll be looking to consolidate and prepare for the final round.
“I’m just trying to get out there and tomorrow do the same thing. It’s always the back nine on the last day that’s going to make all the difference and hopefully I can still be up there. I’m just trying to take it one shot at a time. I want to enjoy the moment – the more times I can get myself up here, the more comfortable I’m going to be,” he said.
Chasing the lead were Jake Roos and Dean Burmester, who both shot 67 to move into a share of second at six-under-par. Looming at five-under were Jaco van Zyl, Attie Schwartzel and Keith Horne. 

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SCOTS WIN EURO TITLE BY NINE SHOTS

Winning Scotland line-up (left to right) Gareth Wright (with trophy), David Orr and David Patrick. First left is Colin Mee of the tournament sponsors, Glenmuir.    A Scotland team lacking top Order of Merit finishers Greig Hutcheon and Stephen Gray still outclassed the opposition to win the PGAs of Europe international team golf championship by nine shots on the Algarve today. West Linton's Gareth Wright, the Glenmuir club professional champion who elected to play for Scotland rather than Wales, finished joint first in the individual standings. Wright, David Orr (Mearns Castle) and David Patrick (Elie Sports Club) virtually led throughout the 72-hole event in which a team's best two from three individual scores counted daily. England shared the first-day lead with Scotland but over the three remaining days the Scots trio forged farther and farther ahead. Scotland team captain David Orr stressed: "It's been a real team effort. We dovetail very well and the fact that we finished third, fourth and fifth in the Scottish Region's Order of Merit reflects that." Said David Patrick: "We're all very good golfers but we combined so well as a team," he said. "That was apparent today and has been all week as we've all played our part." Seven sub-par rounds and another two in regulation out of the dozen the Scots played was evidence of the consistency. Equally important for captainOrr was the experience of his trio. "We've got more than 200 Challenge Tour and 50 European Tour appearances between us and that helped us today," he explained. "Once we'd gone five clear at the end of the third round, I was more relaxed because I felt we had the experience and know-how to see the job through." It was Scotland's seventh win in the tournament but their first since 2006 when Craig Lee, James Irvine and Samuel Cairns won on the Costa del Sol. Patrick, a member of the winning Walker Cup team at Nairn in 1999, was Scotland's top scorer with a one-under-par 71 in the final round while Orr had a 73 and Wright, who had made a major contribution to the winning effort over the first three days, went off the boil with a closing 74. Scotland earned the 6,000 Euros first prize with an impressive total of 16-under-par 560.  Holland (Robin Swane, Joost Steenkamer and Ralph Miller) tied with England (Craig Shave, Steve Parry and Stuart Little) for second place on 569.  Defending champions France finished fourth on 570.  Wales (Simon Edwards, Andrew Barnett and Richard Dinsdale) came ninth on 590. Ireland (David Ryan, Donal Gleeson and John Kelly) finished 10th on 592. In the individual competion, Gareth Wright, Robin Swane and Stuart Little all finished on six-under-par 282. David Orr was joint fourth on 283 and David Patrick joint 10th on level par 288.  PGAs of EUROPE INTERNATIONAL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP  Onyria Palmares Golf and Beach Resort, Alvor Course, Algarve, Portugal.  FINAL TEAM TOTALS  Par 576 (8x72). 560 SCOTLAND 137 141 138 144. 569 HOLLAND 146 140 142 141, ENGLAND 137 144 140 148. 570 FRANCE 145 142 138 145. 578 GERMANY. 580 SPAIN, PORTUGAL. 581 SOUTH AFRICA. 590 WALES 148 147 147 148. 592 IRELAND 143 149 147 153. 593 ITALY. 594 SWEDEN, POLAND. 598 AUSTRIA. 605 DENMARK. 606 SWITZERLAND. 609 FINLAND. 612 NORWAY. 613 GREECE. 614 BELGIUM. 619 CZECH REPUBLIC. 621 SLOVENIA. 627 RUSSIA. 631 CROATIA. 654 ICELAND LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS  Par 288 (4x72)  282 Gareth Wright (Sco) 68 69 71 74, Robin Swane (Hol) 72 70 70 70, Stuart Little (Eng) 70 71 68 73.  283 David Orr (Sco) 71 72 67 73, Mike Michell (SAfr) 71 70 72 70  SELECTED TOTALS 288 David Patrick (Sco) 69 72 76 71 (T10). 291 Steve Parry (Eng) 67 73 72 69 (13th). 293 Andrew Barnett (Wal) 75 74 71 73 (14th). 294 Donal Gleeson (Ire) 72 73 74 75 (15th). 296 Craig Shave (Eng) 70 73 78 75 (T18). 302 Richard Dinsdale (Wal) 75 73 76 78 (T30). 303 David Ryan (Ire) 71 70 76 80, John Kelly (Ire) 73 78 73 78 (T33). 304 Simon Edwards (Wal) 73 79 77 75 (T36)