English Championship: Andy Sullivan secures victory and a fourth European Tour title

Leaderboard

-27 Sullivan

-20 Otaegui

-19 Hojgaard

-18 Nienaber

Final round report

An emotional Andy Sullivan, a Ben Coley's 28/1 pre-tournament tip, ended a near five-year wait for his fourth European Tour title as he recorded a seven-shot victory at the English Championship in Ware.

Heading into the final day at Hanbury Manor with a five-shot advantage, the 34-year-old saw his lead cut to just two by Spaniard Adrian Otaegui.

But while his challenger faltered over the closing stages, Sullivan recorded four birdies on the back nine to finish on 27 under par.

The victory was his first on the European Tour since the 2015 Portugal Masters and his first since the birth of his son and the deaths of both his brother-in-law as well as a close friend.

Tears flowed as he was greeted by his family via a laptop that was set up off the 18th green after he finished the round.

Asked at the winner’s press conference about his emotional reaction, he said: “I think it was just the people that have missed it for me.

“My brother-in-law was only 24 and got taken from us, so it’s quite emotional for him not to witness it. A good friend of mine has passed as well. It means a lot to do that for them.

“It’s just nice for my family, to win for my little boy who’s only two-years-old. It’s just nice for him to see daddy being successful. He hasn’t quite seen that.

“Also for me, I can’t remember too much about my emotions in the first three wins but I was fighting the tears back on those last three holes. I was really just proud of myself for what I’ve achieved this week.”

Sullivan made a fine start with an eagle on the second but a bogey on the fourth coupled with five birdies for Otaegui saw the Spaniard move within three at the turn.

Otaegui holed from just off the green on the 12th to cut the lead to two shots but Sullivan responded with a gain at the same hole before he birdied the 14th and 15th to take charge.

His challenger faded and dropped a shot on the 17th and Sullivan finished with a flourish to birdie the last.

Rasmus Hojgaard ended on 19 under after a flawless 64 as the 19-year-old Dane recorded a third successive top six finish on the UK Swing.

Round three report

Andy Sullivan shot 64 in the third round of the English Championship to take a five-shot lead into Sunday.

The former Ryder Cup player is without a victory since 2015 but stands on the brink of a fourth European Tour title, having taken control of the tournament on another low-scoring afternoon at Hanbury Manor.

"I was just trying to focus on a shot at a time," said Sullivan, who made two eagles to follow up Friday's 62. "I know it's a bit of a cliche, but really trying to control what I could do out there today. I was swinging it well and just trying to give myself as many chances as possible. As I was swinging it well a lot of shots came off today and I gave myself a lot of chances. It was good fun out there."

Steven Brown, like Sullivan a former winner of the Portugal Masters, moved into second place thanks to a birdie at the final hole with South African pair Brandon Stone and Dean Burmester sharing third with Adrian Otaegui.

Stone had earlier taken over from Sullivan in front having made the turn in six-under, but a disappointing back nine combined with fireworks from the Englishman saw the shape of the tournament change once more.

Sullivan began his day in fine style, hitting driver to within three feet at the first hole for the simplest of eagles, followed by a tap-in birdie at the par-five second.

A bogey at the fourth and several missed chance through to the eighth saw him lose the lead, but the 33-year-old then benefited from a fortunate bounce to set up another close-range eagle at the ninth.

When he added another birdie at the 12th, Sullivan was clear in front and though a three-putt bogey followed, at the 14th hole he finally got a mid-range attempt to drop and re-established his four-shot buffer.

Four became five when he birdied the 16th and 17th holes, both after pinpoint approaches, and Brown dropped a shot at the 17th. Sullivan made par at the last to confirm a five-shot cushion as he seeks to win for the first time since Portugal in 2015, where he won by nine.

"Strategy will be the same as today," added the leader. "Just control what I can do. Can't control anyone that is going to come up behind me. This golf course does offer a lot of birdies so I'm sure at some point someone is going to have a run at me. All I can do is control what I can do and see where we are at the end of it."

Round two report

Andy Sullivan shot 62 on day two of the English Championship to take a one-shot lead.

The 2016 Ryder Cup player turned in 34 but then made seven birdies on his way home to sign for a 62 and a 14 under total, one shot clear of countryman Laurie Canter and South Africa’s Dean Burmester.

England’s Richard Bland, Steven Brown and Andrew Johnston were then alongside Welshman Jamie Donaldson in a large group of players at 11 under.

Sullivan sandwiched five birdies in a row from the 12th with gains on the 10th and 18th on his back nine, and more form like that could have big ramifications for his season.

The top 10 players on the European Tour’s mini Order of Merit after the first five events of the UK Swing will seal a place in the US Open, with Sullivan having finished fourth at the British Masters two weeks ago.

Good finishes this week and over the double-header at Celtic Manor to come could well secure Sullivan a place at Winged Foot, but the 33-year-old admits he is unsure if he would take up his place in the field in September.

“I’m not quite sure of my decision on that yet,” he told europeantour.com. “I will see how I feel. I’m just happy to be back playing golf in the UK and on the European Tour at the moment. So we will just take it step by step.”

On his 62, he added: “It was very satisfying. I’m really happy with my day’s work.

“Yesterday and today were both slow on the front nine and I didn’t get into my flow with the swing and wasn’t moving it the way I wanted to. Then on the back nine I freed up a little bit and got the putter going. I holed a lot of nice putts out there.”

Burmester also came home in 28 as he finished his round of 63 with eight consecutive threes, while playing partner Canter signed for a 65.

Round one report

Cormac Sharvin’s opening round of 63 was enough to open up a one-shot cushion over a congested leaderboard as the inaugural English Championship got under way.

The Northern Irishman dropped just two shots to reach eight under par on a day of perfect scoring conditions at Hanbury Manor Marriot Hotel and Country Club to move one ahead of a group of six players.

English pair Laurie Canter and David Howell had both held the lead before dropping shots on the 17th to fall back into the pack, ending round one of the third event of the UK Swing alongside Belgian Thomas Detry, Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe and Australians Min Woo Lee and Jason Scrivener.

They sit one shot ahead of a group of nine players, including Belgian Ryder Cup player Nicolas Colsaerts and rising Danish star Rasmus Højgaard, who recorded rounds of 65 to sit at six under par as the European Tour returned to the Hertfordshire venue for the first time since 1999.

There then sits a group of 14 players a shot further back on five under, including Ben Coley's pre-tournament 28/1 tip Andy Sullivan. Below narrow leader Sharvin, the next 49 players are separated by just three strokes.

"It was a nice round, I played really well and didn't do too much wrong," said Sharvin. "I put it on the fairway, hit a lot of good shots and holed a few putts as well and it all added up to 63.

"I'm pretty happy to start well. There's a long way to go but it's always nice to shoot a good score on the first day and not put yourself out of it.

"I feel like last week I didn't play too badly, I just struggled on the greens. I did a lot of work with Dean Robertson, my old college coach who has been caddying for me on the UK Swing, on my putting process and it seemed to work today. Hopefully it keeps going in that direction and we'll see where it takes us."

Sullivan -5