Sunshine Tour pro plays final round in under 2 hours

Within the space of two days, Sunshine Tour professional Mark Williams went from being warned for slow play to playing his final round in the Tshwane Open in under two hours.

Williams played alone with just a marker at Pretoria Country Club on Sunday, and completed his round of 70 in one hour and 58 minutes and finishing with two birdies and an eagle over his final three holes. He finished his tournament on five over par.

“I was looking the night before and I saw that the PGA Tour record is 1 hour and 29 minutes. I knew I was going to get nowhere close to that. But I’m a fast player and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t really rush too much. Luckily I didn’t have to look for too many balls. But it was really nice just being out there with the marker and my mate caddying for me. It was fun,” said the Zimbabwean professional.

“I didn’t consciously go out to play fast. I said to myself I’m still going to play as well as I can. I just let my caddie walk up a bit more than he normally would have. The funny thing is that in the third round I was actually warned for slow play.”

There was no confirmation as to whether this was indeed a Sunshine Tour record or not. But the Tour did have a celebratory beer waiting for Williams in the scorer’s office.

The fastest round of 18 holes ever played was 29 minutes 33.05 seconds by former American mile record holder Steve Scott, which he achieved on 2 December 1982 at the Miller Golf Course in Anaheim, California.

Asked whether he did any running during his round, Williams said, “No. I’m not fit enough for that”.