GIRONA – South Africa’s Chris Williams stormed to the top of the leaderboard on the second day of the European Tour Destinations Senior Classic with a bogey-free round of 66, six-under, to take a one-shot lead on Saturday.
The 60-year-old sits on nine-under, one ahead of Spaniard José Carilles, who posted two eagles in a six-hole spell between the seventh and 12th hole at PGA Catalunya Resort to jump up the leaderboard and put himself into contention for his maiden Staysure Tour title with just one round remaining.
Williams, who last triumphed on the Staysure Tour in 2017 at the Sharjah Senior Golf Masters, was firing on all cylinders during his second round, and despite missing two relatively short putts over his closing two holes is perfectly poised to claim his third win on the over-50s circuit.
"I’ve been driving the ball really well now for 36-holes and have had an amazing first two rounds on the greens," he said. "I’ve holed a number of long putts and not left myself any precious putts for par, which always makes things a lot easier.
"It’s a challenging golf course that will punish you when you hit a bad shot. The important thing is that my mistakes haven’t been so bad and I’ve been able to take advantage of the par 5’s, but to come off a golf course like this without any bogeys, is definitely a good feeling.
"Taking the lead into the final day is a nice position to be in and it is not something to be scared of, it’s a reward. I’ve been playing really well this week, so tomorrow is something to be excited about and I’m looking forward to going out there and see what happens."
How things stand with 1⃣ round to go 📊
🇿🇦 -9 Williams
🇪🇸 -8 Carriles
🇳🇿-6 Turner
🏴-6 Shacklady
— Staysure Tour (@StaysureTour) July 13, 2019
New Zealand’s Greg Turner and David Shacklady, from England, sit on six-under after the opening two days and will go into the final round three shots off the pace. Shacklady, who started the day at the top of leaderboard, slipped back with a second round of 71, one-under, but remains in the hunt for his second Staysure Tour title.
Argentina’s Mauricio Molina, Englishman Paul Streeter and Peter Fowler, from Australia, sit one shot further back on five-under and will begin the final day four shots behind Williams.